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SPIRITUAL CONQUEST 
ALONG THE ROCKIES 

WILLIAM NICCOLLS SLOAN 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST 
ALONG THE ROCKIES 



BY 
REV. WILLIAM NICCOLLS SLOAN, Ph.D. 

AUTHOR OF "SOCIAL REGENERATION" 




HODDER & STOUGHTON 

NEW YORK 

GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 






Copyright, 1913 
By George H. Doran Company 



/^sT 



©CI.A357928 



DEDICATED 

TO 

THE CAUSE OF HOME MISSIONS 

AND 

MY FELLOW-WORKERS 

WHO ARE LABORING FOR THE MORAL AND 
SPIRITUAL UPLIFT OF THE RISING 
EMPIRES OF THE WEST, AND THE 
CHRISTIANIZATION OF AMER- 
ICAN CIVILIZATION. 



PREFACE 

WHILE giving a series of addresses in 
Eastern cities on home missionary work 
in the West, I was agreeably surprised at 
the interest manifested in my story of western con- 
ditions, especially that part of the West adjacent to 
or near the Rocky Mountain districts, and more 
particularly Montana, the state I represented. 

At the conclusion of these addresses a great many 
people came forward with inquiries for printed mat- 
ter covering the general scope of my discourses. 

I then became conscious of the sparsity of litera- 
ture concerning missionary work in the West, as 
seen from the standpoint of the missionary on the 
field. 

Books of historical character have been pub- 
lished, but these contain little information as to the 
spiritual conquest going on in these rising empires 
along the Rockies. 

The idea came forcibly to my mind that there 
was need for a book giving to the public, from a 
personal and experimental viewpoint the informa- 
tion, suggestions and experience here related, fresh 
from the field of Christian activity. 



viii PREFACE 

These chapters have been written under the pres- 
sure of strenuous duties, which necessarily inter- 
rupted regular hours of study. Some were written 
in railroad stations, while waiting for delayed 
trains (one great source of annoyance in mountain 
travel), and in hotels where quiet was out of the 
question and concentration of mind difficult. 

It is with the hope of supplying something in the 
way of information and suggestion, that will kindle 
additional interest in the spiritual conquest of these 
Western States, destined to be potential factors in 
the future history of our nation, that these chapters 
on a variety of subjects are given to the public, be- 
lieving whatever merit they may possess is based on 
the fact that they come first hand from experience 
and from a heart sincerely interested in planting 
the standard of the Gospel in all our land. 

yV. N. Sloan. 
Helena, Montana. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I The First Call of the West, or The.. 
Lure of Gold i 

II The Second Call of the West, or The 

Lure of the Farm 18 

III Opportunity and Responsibility . . 36 

IV Heroism in Home Missions .... 67 
V Evangelizing Remote Places ... 98 

VI Are Western Towns Overchurched ? . 117 

VII Redemption of the Red Man . . . 135 

VIII Rural Conditions in the West. ; . . 170 

IX Recreation Hours 196 

X Leaves from My Diary and Note Book 214 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST 
ALONG THE ROCKIES 



Spiritual Conquest Along the 
Rockies 

CHAPTER I 

THE FIRST CALL OF THE WEST, OR THE LURE 
OF GOLD 

THE rush for gold, the reaction, and the 
second emigrant tide westward for land, 
mark three successive periods in the con- 
quest of the West. The first tide set in when gold 
was discovered on the Pacific Coast in 1848. The 
United States came into full possession of Cali- 
fornia as early as 1847 without any serious conflict 
in arms. It was a bloodless revolution, if not an 
entirely peaceful one, that placed this state under 
the authority and protection of the Stars and 
Stripes. Yerba Buena was re-christened San Fran- 
cisco, when the great American seaport on the west 
coast was established. It had already been partly 
Americanized by association with trappers and a 
few early settlers. The possession of California 
was in reality decided by the results of the war 
over Texas in 1846. It has been truthfully said 
1 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

by one historian that " by the treaty of Guadalupe 
Hidalgo, Mexico relinquished territory which she 
had never been able to develop, and made way for 
the erection of the new America on the Pacific." 
(The Last American Frontier. Frederic L. Pax- 
son.) 

It was not until the discovery of gold in January 
1848 at Sutter's millrace, a tributary stream of the 
Sacramento, that sufficient inducement was offered 
for emigrants in large numbers to cross the plains 
and two great mountain ranges, or go around the 
Cape by sea. It took a year or more for the news 
to reach remote centres of population thousands of 
miles away. Then the news of the world was not 
read every morning in the daily newspapers, but 
had to percolate through devious and tedious meth- 
ods. Therefore, it was not until 1849 tnat tne ^^ e 
of emigration set in from the far East. The water 
route was very costly and the land route very dan- 
gerous, but most of them chose to go by land. 

The emigration of the forty-niners was attended 
with untold suffering and sickness. Cholera broke 
out among the trains, ending the earthly journey of 
hundreds. 

It is difficult to give in accurate figures the num- 
ber of overland emigrants, but the most conserva- 
tive, place the number between forty and fifty thou- 
sand, who represented all countries and conditions 
of society. After this there followed in close suc- 
2 



FIRST CALL OF THE WEST 

cession of years, the coming of the early pioneers to 
Nevada, Colorado, Montana, Utah, and last but not 
least, Alaska. This call appealed to almost every 
nationality, grade and condition of humanity. The 
college graduate, the young merchant, the common 
laborer, the adventurer, the bad and the good; in 
fact all classes, of both low and high degree were 
represented among those who followed the star of 
empire in its westward course. Perhaps the seek- 
ers for quick fortunes and adventures constituted 
the larger number. They all came, all saw, but 
only a few conquered. 

Large capital was not needed in that day of early 
placer mining ; only a courageous spirit, strong mus- 
cle, spade and pick-ax, blankets and frying pan, 
were the necessary equipments. An optimistic 
spirit, inflamed by hope, wrought miracles in the 
wilderness. Deserts were crossed, rivers forded, 
mountains scaled, life hourly jeopardized by hostile 
Indians, death by starvation threatened, heat of 
summer and cold of winter, were all experienced by 
the early pioneers of the West. " They felt that 
awful pause of blood and breath, which life endures 
when it confronts with death." These dangers and 
hardships beyond description, and many trials un- 
dreamed, and as yet untold, were endured by those 
who obeyed the first summons of the call to these 
now rapidly growing empires. This was the lure 
of gold. Reports of every new strike in Devil's 
3 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

Canyon, Spotted Gulch, Poverty Basin, Bonanza 
Creek, and Last Chance Hollow, were sufficient to 
start a new stampede for the pot of gold. 

They came in ship loads as far as old ocean would 
carry them; from Australia, from the Orient, from 
Islands of the sea, from South America, and from 
all parts of Europe. They came on steamboats up 
the rivers as far as their flat bottom vessels could 
be forced by steam or oars ; then further on by ox- 
carts and stage, seeking with feverish haste their 
expected Eldorado. In every settlement were 
found the Englishman, the Frenchman, the Ger- 
man, and last but not least, the Irishman with his 
natural born wit and optimism. 

These were strenuous days. Interest became ex- 
citement, and excitement enthusiasm, and in some 
cases almost madness. The faith that overcomes 
(if it does not remove) mountains, inspired courage 
and forced habitation in hitherto wilderness regions. 

The first comer staked his claim and held it down 
with loaded gun, against thieves and robbers, who in 
the absence of law and order, called might, right. 
When we remember that gold is the one essential 
element to make possible all material conquest, and 
that it is one chief source of supply for civilization, 
there is a manifest reason for the power it exerts. 

In all cases of unwarranted expansion and ab- 
normal excitement, either in material or spiritual 
things, there is sure to follow the depression of re- 
4 



FIRST CALL OF THE WEST 

action. The occupation of the far West was no 
exception to this rule. After the rush of the first 
few years of gold seeking, there was a period of 
reaction, the natural result of undue inflation. 
From the panic of 1893 till early in 1900, there was 
little increase in the population of the mining states. 
Silver mines on account of lower values, were 
closed. Towns and cities were drained of that 
floating population which constantly seeks high tide 
for its existence. 

Mining, however, was not the only inducement 
that attracted the pioneer to the West. Some saw 
great opportunities in the vast extent of pasture 
lands, and turned their attention to stock-raising. 
This proved to be exceedingly profitable. The 
buffalo grass on which thousands of buffalo 
pastured before the days of settlement, was found 
to be nutritious for horses, cattle and sheep. Till 
within a few years it was not necessary for the 
stockman to own extensive tracts of land, in order 
to support large herds of domestic animals. All 
the capital needed was enough to purchase a small 
herd, which, turned loose with the owner's brand, 
would naturally increase and multiply without much 
care and scarcely any cost. Horses especially, 
would grub for their own living both summer and 
winter. Flocks of sheep had to be herded by shep- 
herds, corralled at night and guarded through the 
day for protection from wolves and coyotes. All 
5 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

was open land and free pasture on Uncle Sam's do- 
main. This proved to be an exceedingly lucrative 
business and free for the most part from the risks 
and hazards of mining operations. Many of these 
early stockmen are to-day the retired capitalists of 
the Rocky Mountain states. In this respect there 
has come a great change the last few years. Uncle 
Sam has surveyed his public lands, and in valleys 
and along streams the homesteader has filed his 
claim for 160 acres. By a recent act of Congress 
he can now secure 320 acres by public grant in cer- 
tain sections of the West. Around his allotment, 
the rancher builds a wire fence and by complying 
with the law and rules of the homestead act, can 
claim these acres for his own personal property. 
In three years he is granted a patent from the gov- 
ernment. There is much territory yet unsurveyed 
and unclaimed, but a large part is barren and rocky 
and mountainous land, and useful mostly for pas- 
turage. 

The big stockmen do not contribute much to the 
development of a country. The big land owner 
will some day be considered an undesirable citizen. 
In many respects he hinders settlement. He closes 
the door of opportunity to the land-hungry of small 
capital. His enrichment comes from a vast extent 
of territory, which requires a very small number of 
cowboys and sheep-herders to run the ranch. 
There is no sowing, plowing or reaping. All the 
6 



FIRST CALL OF THE WEST 

work required on a stock ranch is mostly done on 
horseback. 

There is a great difference between the ranch- 
man and the farmer. Although all farmers as a 
rule are called ranchmen in the West, and whoever 
owns a few acres and raises a few chickens and cul- 
tivates a potato patch, is called a ranchman. 

The rapid change which is now taking place con- 
sists in the diminishing number of ranchmen and 
ever increasing number of farmers. Before the 
present rush for homesteads set in, many stockmen 
were far-seeing enough to read the signs of the 
times, and recognised the fact that the day was 
not far distant, when the open land of much value 
would be possessed by the farmer, who is a tiller 
of the soil. When these lands could be purchased 
for two or three dollars per acre, vast tracts were 
bought and fenced for individual use. It is not an 
unusual thing to find thirty or forty thousand acres 
in the ownership of one man. 

These ranchmen did not want settlers to come 
in, for the more that came, the more limited were 
their liberties and the more circumscribed their pas- 
ture lands. The laws of social and civic conditions 
infringe on personal liberty just in proportion as a 
country or district becomes thickly settled. Our 
neighbour's rights must be considered as well as our 
own. In cities we have not the liberties that are 
enjoyed in country life. The more dense the popu- 
7 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

lation, the greater necessity for restraining laws, 
as personal rights must conserve the interests of 
all the community. In cities we must consult mu- 
nicipal authority as to what kind of a sidewalk we 
purpose to construct and what kind of a house we 
intend to build. Sanitary conditions are under the 
surveillance of a power whose exercise is at least 
supposed to conserve the interests of all, rich and 
poor, high and low. This explains why the home- 
steader's interests conflict with those of the exten- 
sive stockman. Here is the ground of opposition 
on the part of the big land owner and stockraiser, to 
the coming of the farmer. Selfishness of the hu- 
man heart is the basis of this opposition. How- 
ever, this prejudice on the part of the stockmen 
is fast dying out, and the farmer is having the 
right of way without hindrance or serious conten- 
tion. 

The development in the Rocky Mountain states 
reached its climax before the beginning of the 
twentieth century, so far as mining constituted the 
factor of material conquest; not because mining in- 
terests have grown less, but because they have set- 
tled down to a more regular and scientific basis. 
Placer mining has come to be largely a thing of the 
past. Quartz mining requires large capital and ex- 
pensive machinery, but less labour. Nearly ninety- 
nine per cent, of the gold, silver and copper mined 
in the United States, and forty per cent, of all pro- 
8 



FIRST CALL OF THE WEST 

duced in the world, is the product of territory west 
of the Mississippi. 

Activity in the production of copper, lead and 
zinc was greater in 1909 than any previous year. 
The United States mineral census gives the total out- 
put of copper from the smelters to be 1,092,951,624 
pounds. The total quantity of refined copper, in- 
cluding domestic and foreign ores, the following 
year, was 1,391,021,454 pounds, being an increase. 
In the production of copper, Montana led all other 
states, with Arizona second, Michigan third and 
Utah fourth. 

Amount of mineral produced has been on the in- 
crease and no doubt will be for several years to 
come, but new inventions in mechanical appliances, 
make larger production possible with much less 
labor. The mining interests of these states, com- 
posing the mineral region, will continue to be in the 
future as in the past, one of the chief industries of 
material growth. However, this source of wealth 
will gradually diminish in proportionate value to the 
rapidly growing and ever increasing products of 
agriculture. In the year 19 10, for the first time in 
the history of Montana, the farm products were 
larger than those of the mines, yet we are only in 
the infant stage of agricultural development. Sci- 
ence has already contributed much and every year 
is contributing more, to an increased production of 
the soil per acre. We are greatly indebted to our 
9 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

agricultural colleges for the knowledge which has 
been brought home to the farmer through the far- 
mer's institutes, published pamphlets and books, 
giving information of great value in tilling the soil. 
The time is not very far in the past when education 
was not deemed necessary for the farmer. Now it 
is understood, that to be a good farmer, that is to 
get the best results from the same amount of work 
and land, intelligence is even more necessary than 
in some of the learned professions. 

Lands which a few years ago were considered 
worthless and called desert because of a limited 
amount of rainfall, are now discovered to be pro- 
ductive, through intelligent conservation of the 
moisture. 

It is a generally accepted truth among all up-to- 
date economists, that the real source of wealth is in 
the land. Therefore, since the Great American 
Desert has found its mission and purpose, and by 
scientific culture already has demonstrated its great 
possibilities, that many parts have become a garden 
instead of a desert, we are just beginning to realize 
some of the undreamed wealth so long concealed 
from the vision of man. 

What has been said as to mining interests of the 
West, may also be said of the stock-raising busi- 
ness. On so large a scale it is on the decline. 
Great ranches are being divided into small farms, 
and the small farms by raising a little stock, will 
10 



FIRST CALL OF THE WEST 

produce more in the future than the big rancher, 
owning large herds and big acreage has produced 
in the past. This is the change that is now going 
on in the material conquest of the West. The West 
has entered a new era of progress. The first call 
of the West, both in the lure of gold and in the en- 
richment of stockraising on a large scale, either 
have or are fast becoming things of the past. 

This first call continues to influence the invest- 
ment of capital; but a louder and more persuasive 
call, more conducive to a better state of society, and 
one that will be more continuous and steady, has 
become the greater inducement for emigration west- 
ward. 

The cow-boy period is a thing of the past. The 
condition of society as represented in the stories of 
the "Virginian," "The Sky Pilot," and the 
" Squaw Man " are true only of the earliest stages 
of growth in the development of the West. The 
Vigilantes put an end to lawlessness and disorder, 
and they did it with neatness and dispatch. The 
" wild and woolly West " has been transformed into 
a civilised, intelligent and progressive West. 

Conditions described by Bret Harte and Mark 
Twain have long since passed away. Strange to 
say, some people still think of the West as a region 
of Indians, cowboys and sage brush. A far dif- 
ferent West has come, a West far advanced toward 
a high standard of education. The desert is liter- 
II 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

ally blossoming as the rose. The bad men have 
either become law abiding or were hung long ago. 
Sage brush wastes are becoming orchards and grain 
fields. 

Three transcontinental railroads cross the state 
of Montana, each having over eight hundred miles 
of track. They are the Northern Pacific, the Great 
Northern, and the Pacific Extension of the Chicago, 
Milwaukee and St. Paul, built in the order of time 
in which they are mentioned. Branch lines are be- 
ing built by these several roads in all directions. 
They have a vision of the future and are planning 
accordingly. One company of eastern capitalists 
has spent about $15,000,000 in building dams 
across the Missouri River near Helena, for the 
generation of electrical power. There is no justi- 
fication for such an outlay of money in the present 
stage of development. They are building for the 
future. Thirty years ago, one of the large stock- 
holders of the Sante Fe Railroad, then being 
built through Kansas, told the writer, that they did 
not expect dividends for twenty-five years to come. 
The dividends came as expected, only in a much 
shorter time than the years mentioned. It takes 
the vision of faith to make investments in unseen 
material riches ; to have seen in the unsettled and in 
many respects an unpromising country as western 
Kansas was then, the rich reward already realized. 
That dry and hot prairie then a parched wilderness, 
12 



FIRST CALL OF THE WEST 

is now crowded with rich and fruitful farms, large 
and flourishing cities and a happy and contented 
people. It is an inspiring sight to travel across al- 
most any part of eastern Montana and see the 
changes that are being wrought. The great broad, 
magnificent bench lands, stretching for many miles, 
are dotted now as far as the eye can see with home- 
steaders' shacks, either in course of construction or 
completed. Where but a few months ago there was 
naught on these vast areas but a band of sheep or 
cattle or stray coyote to greet the eye, to-day steam 
ploughs or horse ploughs are at work. Towns are 
springing up as if by magic hand. Old towns are 
being jarred into new life. In the northern end of 
the state from Mondak to the mountains, practically 
every acre of homestead land within twenty-five 
miles of the railroad has been taken up. Big 
ranches are being divided into small farms. Thus 
Montana is experiencing a movement which is 
changing it from one of the great mining states, to 
a commonwealth which will be rated among the 
wealthiest and most productive agricultural districts 
in the United States. The awakening has come and 
a new era of prosperity has dawned for the moun- 
tain country so long supposed valuable only for 
mineral production and herding ground for great 
flocks of sheep and cattle. All the elements of this 
new movement portend success for the settlers. 
They are a substantial type of people who are com- 
13 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

ing from New England and the Middle West. 
They are a class of people strong of muscle and en- 
dowed with plenty of common sense and a deter- 
mination to succeed. They are tackling a hard 
problem, one that requires lots of brain and muscle. 
Most of them realize the problem they are facing in 
attempting to farm these semi-arid bench lands, but 
they are better equipped to accomplish this work 
than were those pioneers who met the same prob- 
lems two decades ago in the Dakotas, Nebraska and 
Kansas. 

The agricultural college and the experimental 
farms have already solved many of the problems 
for these people. They have developed for them 
drouth resisting grains and root plants. They have 
proved by actual results what can be accomplished 
by diligent tillage in the preservation of moisture 
by summer fallowing and biennial cropping. And 
better still the state and its various aids are keep- 
ing their trained agriculturists right on the job, to 
assist the new settlers, teaching them how to disc, 
subsurface, pack and harrow the land. 

With a rapidity of which the states are only half 
aware, is this Northwest being transformed from a 
sparsely inhabited land of sage brush, sheep and 
barons and magnificent distances, to a settled, pros- 
perous American farming country. New agricul- 
tural states are being born. The changes of the 
14 



FIRST CALL OF THE WEST 

last dozen years have been revolutionary. The men 
interested in this transformation are not mere ad- 
venturers, but hard headed men who expect a re- 
turn on their investments. 

The railway development in the states of the 
Northwest in the last few years, is evidence enough 
that others than mere adventurers see a reasonable 
hope of permanent development and prosperity. It 
is difficult to obtain statistics that are up to date 
on this development now going on, but here are 
some facts that are helpful. During the summer 
of 191 1, a dozen combined institutes and farmers' 
picnics brought together more than six thousand 
Montana farmers, practically all new settlers on the 
land, who were willing to drop their midsummer 
farm work for instruction by the farmers' institute 
workers. The Northern Pacific farm train last 
May took instruction to nearly twenty-five thou- 
sand persons in the course of two weeks, some of 
whom were merely curious sight-seers from the 
towns, but the majority of whom were farmers anx- 
ious to learn what the exhibits and the lecturers had 
to teach them. Ten million acres of public land 
were homesteaded in Montana alone in the two 
years ending July 1, 191 1. Fifty thousand origi- 
nal homestead entries and five thousand desert land 
claims in Montana were filed with the United 
States government in the two and one-half years 
15 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

ending January i, 191 1. Inquiry in many towns 
fails to show a deserted homestead. These facts 
give a clue to what is going on in the state. 

Where are the people coming from? Mostly 
from the Mississippi and Missouri valleys and the 
north central states. There are few foreigners, 
nearly all the newcomers being native born Ameri- 
cans. This is the complementary fact which ex- 
plains the stationary or declining farm population 
in the Upper Mississippi Valley which is a startling 
revelation of the recent federal census. The losses 
in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin are gains for 
the Northwest. We feel a little proud of the class 
of settlers these older states are sending us. If they 
are the more adventurous, they are also the more 
enterprising and ambitious. 

The settlers are largely of that class who are will- 
ing to take advice and receive instruction. All will 
not succeed, but many will. Those who fail will 
yield their portion to those who will make success 
where others failed. The parable of our Lord will 
be illustrated, in that the one who has not increased 
his portion, will resign it to him who hath. I most 
firmly believe that never in the history of the world 
were opportunities so great and the rewards of in- 
dustry so sure, as they are in this splendid country 
of undeveloped resources of the soil. The first call 
of the West still invites capital, but always at con- 
siderable risk. The second call of the West now 
16 



FIRST CALL OF THE WEST 

invites the energetic, the tiller of the soil, and 
promises rewards such as are sure to come from in- 
telligent exercise of muscle and plodding persever- 
ance. 

Large in area, rich in undeveloped resources and 
small in population, are terms which correctly de- 
scribe the Northwest. It offers to-day attractive 
opportunities to the homeseeker and investor of 
capital. This is called a commercial age. Intelli- 
gent effort is the price of success. We may point 
with pride to the fact that for nearly half a century, 
the West has poured a steady and ever increasing 
stream of gold into the commercial centres of the 
nation. This life blood of business has built up 
great industries, stimulated trade and done much 
to make our country one of the foremost in com- 
merce and wealth. This stream first had its source 
in the mines and ranges, and now the mines, ranges 
and farms combine to swell its volume. 

The miners were the pioneers of western settle- 
ment, the stockmen were the heralds of western de- 
velopment, and the farmers are now becoming a 
more permanent factor in commercial life. While 
the mines and ranges will continue to contribute in 
undiminished volume, the harvests of our farmers 
will in the future prove the greater source of wealth. 



17 



CHAPTER II 

THE SECOND CALL OF THE WEST, OR THE LURE 
OF THE FARM 

THE second call of the West is not in thun- 
der tones, but in the still small voice. 
Though not accompanied with the excite- 
ment of the first, it is far more persuasive and 
effectual, in bringing more people and of a much 
better and superior type, in the virtues which make 
up a moral state of society. 

The United States represents about six per cent. 
of the population of the globe, yet produces forty 
per cent, of the world's supply of wheat, corn and 
oats. We raise seventy per cent, of the world's 
cotton, and twenty-one per cent, of the world's 
wheat. This indicates clearly that with all our 
manufacturing interests and mineral wealth, we are 
preeminently an agricultural people. The present 
development of the West is now, and will be in the 
future, in this direction. We have been the ex- 
porters of the bread-stuffs, for less favored and 
more densely populated nations. Yet, unless there 
is both more extensive and intensive farming, the 
day is not far distant, when we will have to import, 
18 



SECOND CALL OF THE WEST 

instead of export our bread. The home demand 
for wheat, owing to our rapid increase in popula- 
tion, is eighty per cent, more than the increase of 
our supply. An analysis of the most important 
articles that make up our export commerce, shows 
that while our exports in general are on the increase, 
there is a significant falling off in the amount of 
agricultural products sent to foreign countries. 
The value of these in 1908 was $726,000,000; in 
1909 it had fallen to $626,000,000, and in 19 10 to 
$594,000,000. The current writers and economists 
are saying that the United States has already lost 
her position as one of the most important granaries 
of the world; that within a generation we shall be 
forced to import grain and cattle to feed our peo- 
ple. We believe, however, that this predicted mis- 
fortune will be averted by the vast amount of new 
territory now being brought under cultivation. In 
January of 1910, at seven o'clock in the morning, 
from a hotel window in the city of Great Falls, 
with temperature ten degrees below zero, the writer 
counted one hundred and fifty men and women, 
mostly men, standing in line waiting their turn to 
register on government land. Similar scenes might 
have been witnessed at other government land of- 
fices during the winter, with increased numbers in 
the spring months. The following figures will in- 
dicate the steady advancement made in Montana the 
last seven years. 

19 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

Number of homestead filings in 1905 2,386 

Number of homestead filings in 1906 3,398 

Number of homestead filings in 1907 3,347 

Number of homestead filings in 1908 5,329 

Number of homestead filings in 1909 7,942 

Number of homestead filings in 1910 21,982 

Number of homestead filings in 191 1 15,399 

Number of homestead filings in 1912 13,419 

(In Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Colorado, 
there was a proportionate increase for the above 
mentioned years.) 

The eastern farms have exhausted their fertility, 
at least their products are growing less both in 
grains and fruits. The great Middle West has per- 
haps reached its maximum production, yet land 
values have increased to such prices as to require 
considerable capital to own an averaged sized farm. 
Hence the lure of the farmer to-day is farther west. 
Not only the cheapness of the land, but the produc- 
tivity of this western soil encourages the ever in- 
creasing emigration of farmers westward. (See 
Table 1.) From this table it may be seen that Mon- 
tana leads in yields of all crops except flax and corn. 
It has not been supposed that our short summers 
and cool nights would ever be conducive to a corn 
crop. But even in this respect experience indicates 
that at least in eastern Montana, the corn crop 
may be one of great value. 

According to the crop reports, only a little more 
than four millions of Montana's thirty millions of 
acres of arable lands are in cultivation. Al- 
20 



SECOND CALL OF THE WEST 

though the state is growing 1 in population with 
marked increase in agricultural districts, vast areas 
of fertile land still await settlement. Its un- 
equalled advantages are becoming known and set- 
tlers are coming in ever increasing numbers to 
possess the land. The energetic man, with small 
or large capital can find the opportunity few other 
places offer. In an address at the State Fair, 
in the presence of President Taft, James J. Hill 
made the statement that Montana had become an 
integral part of the world's granary. As for qual- 
ity of farm products he challenged the world, and 
Professor Shaw, the agricultural expert of Min- 
nesota, endorsed this statement unqualifiedly. The 
reader no doubt will want to know the facts on 
which such statements are made. For example, 
the wheat average is shown to be twice that of the 
entire nation as a whole, and far greater than that 
of Russia or France. With the exception of Bel- 
gium alone, it has the world's record average of 
oats, and the same is true of barley. Table No. 2 
in the Appendix, taken from official reports, shows 
the products of Montana as classified for 1909. 
The figures quoted in the above mentioned table 
are not rash estimates or rough guesses. If these 
are the products when in the infantile stage of de- 
velopment, estimates of the future possibilities are 
not likely to be exaggerated. The state possesses 
an area of 93,000,000 acres, subdivided as follows : 
21 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

Wooded, 27,000,000 acres; forest, reserve 20,389,- 
000; unsurveyed or unavailable, 22,000,000; arable, 
30,000,000. Of the latter, in 1909 less than one- 
fourth were occupied, while forest reserves are also 
available for homesteads. 

What is the nature of this new country? 
Roughly speaking, the eastern two-thirds of the 
state is made up of valleys of the Missouri and 
Yellowstone Rivers, running eastward and uniting 
just over the line between North Dakota and Mon- 
tana. These two rivers drain a vast region, larger 
than any northern central state, consisting chiefly 
of grassy plains, cut up along the southwestern bor- 
der by spurs from the main range of the Rocky 
Mountains, which form its western border. This 
region classed as semi-arid, has a rainfall of from 
ten to twenty inches annually. These plains in his- 
toric times have been occupied in turn by the buf- 
falo, the long horned cattle and the sheep which 
have made Montana the first of all the wool grow- 
ing states. The mountain valleys, with surpris- 
ingly rich soil, furnish also the most favourable 
opportunities for irrigation projects. 

The western third of the state, is a strip lying 
from the northwest to southwest, between two 
ranges of the mountains and is made up of a series 
of river valleys running in various directions. It 
is characterised by a somewhat milder climate than 
corresponding latitudes east of the mountains and 



SECOND CALL OF THE WEST 

toward the north has a much heavier rainfall. The 
mountains are mostly wooded, held largely by the 
government as forest reserves. This section of the 
state, except at the southern end, is drained toward 
the Pacific coast. 

It is a common impression that Montana is a 
waterless region, but in fact it is really the best wat- 
tered state in the Union, possessing as it does two 
of the largest rivers in the West, to say nothing of 
the many streams fed by perpetually snow-capped 
mountains, while the average rainfall is small on 
the arable lands, the facilities for irrigation are 
numerous. The government projects, already in 
active operation and those being built and in con- 
templation will cost $30,000,000, and will irrigate 
hundreds of thousands of acres. Three large tracts 
have been reclaimed under the provisions of the 
Carey Act and others are contemplated, while the 
number of private irrigation projects is unusually 
large. As an example of what these mean, it may 
be stated that lands selling for ten dollars before 
reclaimed are now quoted as high as one hundred 
in some parts of the state, and nearly all irrigated 
land sells as high as fifty dollars per acre. In some 
more favoured sections orcharding has become, and 
is becoming more and more, one of the most lucra- 
tive sources of business among the productive in- 
dustries. In the long settled communities where 
every possible source of growth and development 
23 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

has been promoted, the birth of a new country such 
as the mountain and other western states have al- 
ready proved to be, induce thousands to come west- 
ward, through the lure and rewards and possibilities 
held out to the seekers of new homes. The beckon- 
ing hand is pointing such to the land of the setting 
sun. Out here where wide stretched plain and snow 
topped mountains meet, where every hope intelli- 
gently and courageously cherished finds fruition, 
where the magic touch of honest effort finds re- 
ward, where empires are being built on desert 
claims, sentiment draws inspiration for future home 
building. Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Oregon and 
Washington are the youthful states, which in the 
not far distant future will be the controlling factors 
in the body politic of the greatest nation on the 
earth. 

The West is thus the big gate of opportunity for 
the overcrowded East, yes, for the still farther East, 
where homeseekers are looking with longing eyes 
toward this land of promise. Here we have homes 
for the homeless, food for the hungry, work for 
the unemployed, land for the landless, freedom for 
the enslaved, and adventures for the restless. 
These have been the lure and the rewards which the 
West has held out to the sons of men. We do not 
call the West the only field of progress and future 
development, but it is preeminently more so than 
24 



SECOND CALL OF THE WEST 

old settled communities. Its population represents 
progressive blood from all sections of the East as 
well as from foreign countries. Its natural re- 
sources have fanned industrial achievement without 
parallel in the annals of the human race. A senator 
in 1843 denounced Washington, Oregon, Idaho and 
Montana, as not worth a pinch of snuff. Their tax- 
able valuation now runs into the billions. The area 
west of the Mississippi embodies 60 per cent of the 
United States and has 35,000,000 inhabitants. 
The manufacturing interests of this section amount 
to more than those in the United States before 
1870. It will not be many years before half the 
population of the United States will be west of the 
Mississippi. Montana is the third largest state in 
area in the Union, embracing 146,752 square miles. 
Bigness does not insure greatness, but it is indicative 
of possibilities. It takes the combined states of 
Pennsylvania, Indiana and Maryland to equal the 
area of Montana. The territorial greatness is 
matched by big business enterprises. In Nevada 
one mine produced $36,000,000 in one year. 
There are coal veins 20 feet thick. There is as 
much coal in Utah as in Pennsylvania. But the 
deposits in the treasure vaults of mountains, 
is not the greatest source of western wealth. 
The agricultural resources far surpass the mineral. 
(See Table 3 Appendix.) If the spirit of the West 
25 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

is boastful and speculative, it is equally vigorous, 
optimistic and progressive. Its people and re- 
sources make it such. 

During a recent visit in the East, called by the 
Board of Home Missions to address churches and 
Presbyteries in the interest of mission work in the 
West, I was frequently questioned concerning the 
rainfall and character of the climate in general. 
Some of these questions need to be answered be- 
cause they indicated erroneous conclusions which 
had been drawn from newspaper reports published 
during periods of extreme weather, which are gen- 
erally of short duration. (See Table No. 4 Ap- 
pendix.) 

In western Montana the winters are even milder 
than in the eastern part of the state. The average 
temperature for February as given in the Weather 
Bureau at Missoula, on the western side of the 
Rocky Mountains, for the past nineteen years has 
been 24.4 degrees above zero. When the tempera- 
ture falls much below zero, as it often does, it only 
lasts two or three days. The heat of summer is 
never oppressive, owing largely to the high altitude. 
The summers are noted in the Rocky Mountain 
states for their long sunshiny days and dry atmos- 
phere, giving many hours of sunlight for the 
growing of crops. 

Here is at least a partial solution of the remark- 
able fruit and grain crops. Speaking of the high 
26 



SECOND CALL OF THE WEST 

percentage of bright sunshine, Prof. Atkinson of 
the Montana State Agricultural College, says, 
" The light which is usually regarded as unimpor- 
tant, is a tremendous factor in the producing of 
crops. All plant production is based on the pres- 
ence of sunlight, and all plant manufacture is car- 
ried on by sunlight. An area, therefore, having 
a larger number of bright days is more fitted to 
bring rapid and satisfactory plant growth." This 
is one of the reasons why crop returns in Montana 
are greater than in the areas of more rainfall. 
Quoting from the same authority : " The soils, not 
having been subjected to the leaching of heavy rains 
through the years and not having been reduced by 
having forests removed, are accordingly rich in 
plant food. Nitrogen, phosphorous and potash, 
those elements, the lack of which prevent crop re- 
turns in other sections, are present in abundance 
in Montana soils." 

In many sections of Montana the continual crop- 
ping of wheat has apparently had no effect whatever 
on the yield. It seems probable that owing to all 
the elements of plant life retained in the soil, with- 
out loss from leaching, products of nitrification 
received from the air during fallow years, are quite 
sufficient to overcome any tendency towards ex- 
haustion of the soil. These western soils seem to 
be peculiar in this regard. In Utah, Oregon and 
Washington are many fields that have produced 
27 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

grain for more than a score of years, and the yield 
is as large as ever. 

Let it not be supposed for a moment that the ex- 
pression " dry farming " signifies farming without 
rainfall. There is no such thing as dry farming, 
literally speaking. The expression only means 
areas where the rainfall is light in comparison with 
more humid districts. We have rainfall in all parts 
of Montana and more in some parts than in others; 
much more along the foothills of mountain 
ranges where farming is conducted with marked 
success without irrigation. The annual normal 
precipitation for the state of Montana is 15.34 
inches. The largest average for the eastern por- 
tion is 18.75 inches, and the smallest is 12.63 inches. 
For the western division of the state the largest 
annual average is 22.62, inches and the least is 12.56 
inches. The average precipitation for the state in 
1908 was 20.09 inches. The normal annual pre- 
cipitation for Utah is 12.29 inches, and for North 
Dakota 17.79 inches. The latter includes the Red 
River Valley. 

Another important characteristic should be noted 
in connection with the above facts, viz, that in 
Montana two-thirds of the moisture falls during 
the growing season of the year. This will make an 
average of about ten inches for April, May, June 
anl July; almost as much as falls during the same 
months in the humid sections of the country. Ac- 
28 



SECOND CALL OF THE WEST 

cording to Bulletin " P " of the United States 
Weather Bureau, the probabilities of rainfall are 
ten per cent, better in Montana than in states to 
south, while the rains are more frequent and reg- 
ular. 

The statement has been printed by the same au- 
thority that the rainfall of the country between the 
iooth meridian and the Rocky Mountains for the 
past three years has been unusually large. Dr. 
L. G. Briggs, of the United States Department of 
Agriculture in a paper read before the third Dry 
Farming Congress, showed by government statistics 
that the rainfall for the last three years in the 
region named has been almost normal. 

It seems to be a matter of common observation 
that rainfall in a new country increases with set- 
tlement, cultivation and tree planting. For in- 
stance, northwestern Iowa and southwestern 
Minnesota before settlement, were considered dry 
and fit only for grazing. To-day it is found nec- 
essary to dig draining ditches in these sections. 
South Dakota and Nebraska prove the same theory. 
Admitting this to be a theory not fully demon- 
strated, nature has provided irrigation possibilities 
yet unrealized, but already initiated in no small 
scale. The unsurveyed and unexplored mountains 
have still revelations for the prospector, of mineral 
riches which may surpass those now discovered. 
But in the cultivation of irrigated lands there is 
29 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

no uncertainty. There is no risk as with the pros- 
pector, and no uncertainty as to the rewards of land 
cultivation. " Countless streams rushing down- 
wards from snowy summits, unchecked and uncon- 
trolled, lure the engineer to harness the power now 
wasted. The desert — mysterious, silent, expectant, 
quivering under cloudless skies — holds a promise 
of freedom and independence to the careworn and 
disregarded. It offers uplift of unmeasured dis- 
tances and the individual home with that broader 
freedom of action which comes from life in the 
open." (" The Call of the West," C. J. Blanchard, 
in National Geographic Magazine for May 1909.) 

The same writer gives this summary of reclama- 
tion work up to January 1, 1909. Already con- 
structed more than 3,458 miles of canals and ditches, 
which if in line would reach from New York City 
to San Francisco. One million acres now ready 
for irrigation, embracing 4,686 farms. Twenty 
thousand people are settled on these lands, now gar- 
dens of productivity. 

Take one instance for example. One of the most 
interesting of the government irrigation enterprises 
is the Huntley project, in southeastern Montana. 
It represents no spectacular engineering features, 
yet from a sociological viewpoint it is one of the 
most interesting works so far undertaken. The 
project embraces about thirty-five thousand acres 
of land, which was divided by the engineers into 
3° 



SECOND CALL OF THE WEST 

farms of approximately forty acres each. This 
was a daring thing to do in a country where men 
believed themselves entitled to' as many hundred or 
thousand acres as they could fence. The engineers 
argued that a region so favourably situated in re- 
gard to soil, climate and crops, forty acres were 
enough, and the crop report of 191 1 recently 
published indicates that their contention was well 
founded. In 191 1 twelve thousand acres were actu- 
ally irrigated, but crop returns have been received 
from only eleven thousand acres. The estimated 
value of crops on the area reported was $316,759. 
Much of this area was new land cropped for the 
first time, and considering the fact that the spring 
of 191 1 was unusually dry and unfavourable for 
the germination of seed, this is a pretty good show- 
ing for amateur irrigators. With only one-third 
of the acreage of the project in crop, the value of 
the yield was approximately thirty-seven per cent of 
the cost of building the irrigation system. The set- 
tlers have also acquired livestock of an estimated 
value of $224,369 and in addition sold stock during 
the year, including poultry and dairy products, 
amounting to $32,509.75. Including these sales, 
returns during 191 1 amounted to an average of 
more than $31 per acre of the lands irrigated. The 
cost of building this system amounted to only $30 
per acre. Of the lands irrigated in 191 1 three thou- 
sand acres were reported as devoted to sugar beets. 
31 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

The gross value of this crop averaged $60 per acre. 
The average distance of all farms on the Huntley 
project is only one and five-eights miles from the 
railroad. Five thousand acres on the project 
signed contracts with the sugar beet company to 
raise beets in 1912. There are seven government 
townsites on the project, located along the two rail- 
roads which traverse the tract its entire length. 
The usual hardships of pioneer life are not encoun- 
tered on this project. The settlers enjoy the 
privilege of rural free delivery and county tele- 
phones. Fourteen schools have been established 
and seven churches organized hold regular meetings. 
There is a strong movement on foot to establish 
high schools in the various towns to which the 
children of the farmers will be conveyed in busses 
daily. 

Who can tell the future possibilities and predict 
the development in agricultural projects of the com- 
ing years? There are moral consequences as well 
as material. This kind of material development 
means the growth of sturdy manhood and industri- 
ous citizenship. Mr. Blanchard, in the same report 
heretofore quoted, says, " May not the influence of 
its far-flung horizons and its true perspective be 
potential in character moulding and building ? The 
cradle of our civilisation was rocked in the desert. 
Plato and Socrates dreamed their dreams, imbibed 
their splendid imagery and stately rhetoric in rain- 
32 



SECOND CALL OF THE WEST 

less land. May not our own desert develop new 
systems of ethics and morals to lead us back from 
the material to the spiritual, into ways of gentle- 
ness and simple living." 

Material influences have a part, among the silent 
forces that work harmoniously in the spiritual con- 
quest along the Rockies. If environment is a 
factor in shaping destinies of individuals and na- 
tions, surely natural scenery has its ministry. Any 
classification of moral forces with this left out, 
would be ignoring a potential agency. " A country 
destitute of mountains may be rich, well cultivated 
and even beautiful, but it cannot in any instance be 
sublime or transporting." (C. Bucke, "Beauties 
of Nature.") From mountain elevations we see 
the far horizon of the ever- widening Christian civili- 
sation, as we view the physical plains stretching to 
infinite distances. Go where we will in this moun- 
tain country, we never get away from this object 
lesson of God's strength and greatness. 

From my study window I have a distant view 
of the " Gate of the Mountains," through which the 
Missouri River pours its perennial stream of pure 
mountain water, in its mad rush to reach the sea. 
Here it passes through a spur of the Rockies, that 
reaches out an arm as if to stop its flow in its des- 
tined course. The mountains on either side crowd 
its waters into a narrow channel, which, in the 
hidden history of past ages opened a gate for pas- 
33 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

sage through what would seem to human judgment 
an impassable barrier. The scene reminds us of 
what changes have taken place and what barriers 
have been broken down, through the silent force 
of the ages. 

Living in the midst of such scenery, we never 
get far from God's glory, reflected in the massive- 
ness of His handiwork. The sublime psalmody of 
hidden strength, the deep tone of the mountain 
thunder storm, the moaning of the winds in the 
pine tree tops, the cloud shadows chasing each 
other over rugged paths, the white purity of snow- 
covered peaks, are revelations and visions that 
should bring any mind into the tabernacle for rev- 
erential and fervent worship. 

We may rightly assume that Deity had good 
reasons for the choice of mountain summits, as land- 
marks on which to make known His sublimest rev- 
elations. It may be because these are striking 
topographical localities which designate them from 
common features of the earth, and as such would 
not likely fade from the memory of man. 

Another reason may be found in their isolation 
and far removal from human interruption and the 
noise of a busy world. But whatever the reason, 
we know that many mountains have been world- 
wide renowned, because of their sacred associations, 
and places of divine revelation. 

This West suffers not in comparison with any 
34 



SECOND CALL OF THE WEST 

part of the world, in all that nature has ever done 
to enthrall the senses, to inspire the tongue, and fill 
the soul with high ideals. Are we mistaken then 
in assuming that these silent forces and sublime en- 
vironments, have an important mission in develop- 
ing a high standard of Christian civilization? 
Surely they have a quickening power in the growth 
of physical and spiritual activity. Extended hori- 
zon enlarges vision. If our prophetic dreams of 
future possibilities seem to lack the elements that 
make fulfilment probable, we answer that many of 
them have already emerged into realization. 

These sovereign states of the West have been 
moulded from regions long abandoned to wilder- 
ness and desert. From the product of their mines 
and valleys, they are building enduring monuments 
of their genius and foresight. The unrealized re- 
sponsibility of the church, is to redeem these forces 
of undreamed possibilities of righteousness and the 
extension of the kingdom of God throughout the 
world. 



35 



CHAPTER III 
OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 

FROM the statements in the former chapters, 
there can be no doubt in regard to the ma- 
terial conquest of the West. Where there 
are such material rewards for material investments, 
investments will be made. There is no want of 
money to buy securities such as the West affords. 
The lure of profits is well nigh almighty. Those who 
have capital are telescopic in their vision, and those 
who have muscle, are not slow to recognize where 
its rewards are sure. A conservative estimate will 
give the United States a population in 1950, of 
200,000,000. The eastern cities may double their 
population but the eastern country population will 
not be much increased. The western country will 
be the home for coming generations of the tillers 
of the soil. There are signs already for a new era 
in rural life. With telephones, automobiles, and 
post-office at the door, the farmer comes into all 
the advantages of city life, with all the freshness 
of country life added. If the country church is 
dying out in the old settled communities, it is being 
built in the new, as the only centre of social life and 
36 



OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 

religious worship. There need be no fear but the 
cities, both West and East, will have ample Gospel 
privileges. How about the village and the country 
church in the West? This is the problem of more 
importance to the church than any other at the 
present time. It is seldom that the people of any 
age can grasp the significance of events which are 
most powerful in projecting their influence into 
future generations. Persons not intimately ac- 
quainted with this western country have difficulty 
in appreciating the magnitude of the awakening in 
agricultural interests, or comprehending the extent 
of territory involved. Take for example the four 
states of the Northwest, Oregon, Idaho, Washing- 
ton, Montana and the adjacent territory of Alaska 
and state of Wyoming, are equal in area to that of 
all the states lying east of the Mississippi River, 
together with the great states of Minnesota, Iowa 
and a large part of Missouri included in the cal- 
culation. The most rapid increase in population 
the coming years will be in this western area. 

The spiritual vision that fails to appreciate the 
magnitude of this country and embrace its oppor- 
tunity, will awake too late to find that the oppor- 
tunity of a century has passed. Much of this area 
will always be waste land, but there is so much of 
it arable that its magnitude is not easy to realize 
by figures. Thousands of acres which only a few 
years ago were considered waste lands, are to-day 
37 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

some of the richest farm and fruit lands on the 
continent. 

It takes a wide perspective to get a comprehensive 
view of the magnitude of the work the church has 
before it, in the spiritual conquest of these rising 
empires. We are not engaged in a hopeless strug- 
gle, nor are we fighting a losing battle, but in so 
great an undertaking, the task is no less than the 
christianization of American civilization. 

Emerson said, " He was never confused if he 
could see far enough. That the cure for scepticism 
was to set the year against the day, and the century 
against the year; to look at happenings and ex- 
perience, in the light of a large perspective." 

Aggressive action, a forward movement, is bet- 
ter than the most vigorous defensive. One thou- 
sand dollars spent in the beginning of a new town 
or community of settlers, in behalf of moral and 
spiritual welfare of the people, is worth more than 
ten thousand dollars spent for the same purpose 
ten years later, when settled indifference has be- 
come a fixed condition. The real science of medi- 
cine to-day is prevention, rather than the cure of 
diseases. The cure is given over to the practi- 
tioner, while prevention engages the thought of 
medical science. To save a people from being lost, 
is better and less expensive than saving them after 
they are lost. A very large proportion of the new 
settlers in the West to-day come from Christian 
38 



OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 

homes in the East, but sad to say, many of them do 
not act like Christians in their new home. Accord- 
ing to my early teaching in theology — once in 
grace, always in grace — there seems to be a wide 
margin between the theory and the practice of this 
theological dogma. Since my coming to the West 
I have become a little heterodox as to this Calvin- 
istic dictum, for I find that the religion of many 
does not stand the test of transportation beyond 
the Mississippi. All the more need, however, of 
meeting these seekers of new homes with the church 
and Christian influence, before they slip away and 
neglect so great salvation. 

One of our chief difficulties, which stands in the 
way of progress, is that we are compelled to put 
untrained men into important fields to establish the 
church and develop our work. With the price of 
our living higher than it has been for years, making 
larger financial support absolutely necessary, and the 
class of people ministered to, requiring a type of 
preachers possessing the best qualities for work, 
make our conditions extremely difficult. A man 
who has been a failure in the East, should never 
think of coming West, for here his weakness will 
put him out of a job much sooner than in old set- 
tled communities. 

Therefore to meet the responsibility and embrace 
the opportunity, which confronts Christian endeav- 
our on home missionary territory in the West, a 
39 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

high standard of preparation for the work is de- 
manded. The writer receives many applications 
from ministers for locations where they can supply 
churches and take up a homestead. Such applica- 
tions are universally turned down, for the reason 
that men cannot make a success of their work with 
divided interests. They must either be ministers 
or farmers, for they cannot successfully be masters 
of two callings; they will either hate the one and 
love the other or else they will hold to the one and 
despise the other. 

The Rev. Douglas McKenzie, president of Hart- 
ford Theological Seminary, spoke a great truth 
when he said, in an address before the World's 
Missionary Conference, held in Edinburgh, " That 
the modern world everywhere must be supplied 
with teachers of truth in Christ, whose training 
has been prolonged, thorough and deep. Those 
who speak for the Christian religion to the mass 
of human life must in general be masters both of 
what they teach and of the moral and intellectual 
conditions of those whom they address. It has be- 
come clear that no portion of the church does, per- 
haps none can, and certainly none ought to give a 
preparation to its missionary force sujjerior to that 
given to the various classes of workers at home. 
For if the growing intelligence of the homeland 
is to be held loyal to the Truth of the Gospel, it is 
evident that this only can be secured by keeping 
40 



OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 

the interpreters of the Truth abreast of the best 
education, which is given to any class of scholars 
and any profession which Christendom produces." 
We hope and pray for the time when chosen men 
will hear the call of God as distinctly to go to the 
needy fields of our own country, as some do hear 
it for the foreign field; men who will have this 
work as their choice above all others and who will 
feel that the greatest talents are not too brilliant 
for home missionary work. 

Human wisdom cannot possibly foresee the 
changes which may take place in this far West in 
the next few years. Advance is so rapid in ma- 
terial development, that it is difficult to predict 
what a few years may bring forth. In many places 
all that we can do is to occupy the fields ready for 
the sowing and anticipate through faith and works 
the coming harvest. There is a call which 
distinctly says, " Go Forward." We face a com- 
bination of grand opportunities and grave respon- 
sibilities. In most undertakings there is the chance 
of glorious success or the risk of awful failure, but 
as to the extension of the kingdom of God, with all 
the rich promises for successful conquest His word 
inspires, there should not be even the shadow of the 
disappointment failure brings. The only risk in- 
volved is found in the lack of devotion, in seizing 
the opportunity and accepting the responsibility. 
Apathy is the greatest peril that confronts us. 
4i 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

Heterodoxy is not the besetting sin of the church in 
this first decade of the twentieth century; it is 
rather indifference and selfishness. We are com- 
pelled to work against odds now, because satan 
has occupied the fields first. In every new town in 
the Northwest, the saloon is about the first building 
erected. As proof of this I can relate an example 
of personal experience and observation on a recent 
tour along the Lower Yellowstone, where the gov- 
ernment has completed one of its extensive irriga- 
tion projects, and along which the Northern Pacific 
Railroad is extending its line. In a distance of 
forty miles, three new towns are located, and in 
each of these, the first building erected was a sa- 
loon, and in two of them the first two buildings 
were saloons. Satan is in advance of the church 
in occupying new fields. It is no easy matter to 
dislodge the foe when our delays have permitted 
him to fortify. I have one example, however, 
where the church got the start. In the little village 

of M , a new settlement on the Pacific extension 

of the C. M. & St. Paul R. R.— the Sunday School 
Missionary and the Pastor-evangelist, arrived be- 
fore the saloon. Two petitions were already before 
the County Commissioners for saloon license, but 
when a petition signed by ninety per cent, of the 
community against license was presented, the ma- 
jority petition was granted, and that little church 
organized without any church building, in a little 
42 



OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 

school house only large enough to hold less than 
half the people that would assemble every Sabbath 
morning for worship, has held the ground as one 
dry village in the state of Montana, and as far as 
the writer knows, the only one outside the Indian 
reservations. There is no reasonable excuse, ex- 
cept the apathy of the church in general, for al- 
lowing the emisaries of evil to first take possession 
of newly developed localities. Among the many 
hindrances the missionary has to confront in the 
spiritual conquest of the Northwest, all combined 
are not so great as the saloon influence. In this 
respect the Southwest is far in advance of the North- 
west. Oklahoma and Kansas are dry territory 
and a very large part of Texas through local 
option. The churches make corresponding prog- 
ress. North Dakota is the only state along the 
Northwest where the prohibitive ban closes the 
saloon. All the other states suffer under this curse. 
The saddest feature of all is that they are appar- 
ently sustained by a large majority of the people. 
In Montana, with a very few exceptions, the sa- 
loon has free course to run, practically without any 
restrictions whatever, twenty-four hours in the 
day, and seven days in the week and three hundred 
sixty-five days in the year. 

This means a crusade against the powers of 
darkness, the most formidable of any the church 
of God has to fight. All the more need in this 
43 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

Northwest for the church to put forth its most vali- 
ant efforts, by sending its best men, with equip- 
ments furnished for contending with such a foe. It 
only emphasizes the grandeur of our opportunity 
for a great victory and the peril of weakhearted at-' 
tacks. Were it not for the inspiration from above 
that prompts all true service and sacrifice, and which 
assures final victory, we might faint ere the battle 
is begun. Under the Red Cross banner of our 
Lord, we march forward to face new openings and 
gain new victories. In the face of such opposing 
forces the call for " Retrenchment " sounds like a 
death knell to missionary advancement. Happily 
the boards of our churches have almost forgotten 
this word, and from headquarters no longer do they 
cry out to stop advance, but to go forward and take 
new territory for the Lord. The courage of the 
missionary has quickened the dying courage of the 
church, and now out on the frontier lines engaged 
in our desperate, but not hopeless struggle, we are 
assured that the Eastern churches with more liberal 
and confident beneficence are standing back of us 
with the sinews of spiritual warfare. 

While in Wilmington, Delaware, after an ad- 
dress somwhat optimistic in tone, a lady came for- 
ward and kindly thanked me for the words spoken, 
" but " she said, " don't you have to whistle oc- 
casionally in order to keep up courage? " I assured 
her that we had something more substantial than a 
44 



OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 

whistle to keep up our courage or we would have 
long since waved the white flag. 

This reminds me of another instance in this con- 
nection. While stopping at a hotel in one of our 
principle cities, a travelling man who had often 
seen me on the road in different parts of the state, 
presented his card, saying, " I believe you are a 
travelling man like myself." On confirming his 
supposition, he asked me " what line of goods do 
you sell?" I informed him that I was a minister, 
a title I had never been ashamed of except in my 
imperfections and weakness in representing so 
worthy a calling. His surprise at my answer 
was manifest in his countenance, and his opinion 
of my profession was clearly stated in his re- 
ply when he said in a very condescending tone, 
" Well, I am sorry for you." With all the dignity 
at my command, I told him he had better reserve 
his pity for some one who needed it, and that he 
would not find me in the needy class. This reply 
awakened his interest, and for nearly an hour I con- 
versed with him on the recompense of the minister's 
life. He bid me good night, saying, " I am almost 
persuaded to be a minister." I never learned 
whether he became altogether persuaded, but I am 
sure he will never give me any more pity for being a 
minister. 

The experience of a travelling missionary in this 
western country, if written by a ready and expert 
45 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

story writer, would make some interesting reading. 
It is not my custom to travel in ministerial garb, 
but my profession is very often recognised notwith- 
standing the fact clothes do not indicate my calling. 
Sometimes, however, it is the opposite impression, 
for after a long journey by stage or otherwise, over 
dusty roads, appearance does not indicate my voca- 
tion. After one of these long dusty rides I was 
waiting at a small station, walking up and down the 
platform, perhaps a little impatient at the tardiness 
of the train, when a man stepped up to me and said, 
" If I am not mistaken, I believe you are the black- 
smith up at the Keating mines." I politely in- 
formed him that I was not ashamed of being recog- 
nised as one of such a muscular and worthy calling, 
but that he was mistaken — in giving me such an 
honourable distinction. He graciously apologized 
and went his way, without any further information 
as to my trade. 

Another recent incident is of a different nature, 
when, in spite of my citizen's dress, I was recognized 
as a member of the priesthood. On entering a new 
town with valise in hand, I was most cordially 
greeted by a young man evidently not long from 
the land where the shamrock grows. He was so 
cordial in his greeting (and full of artificial inspira- 
tion) that he took my valise in one hand and put 
his other arm in mine, saying, " Well, father, I am 
glad to see you in our town ; if you give us a service 
46 



OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 

you can depend on me." Walking a little farther, 
he stopped me in front of a saloon, saying, " Come 
in, father, and let us have a social drink in honour of 
the occasion, for you are the first man of your holy 
order that has ever been in our town." Of course 
I refused this kind offer, but he was not satisfied 
with my denial. Persisting in his purpose to show 
his hospitality, he said, " Well, father, come in and 
have a cigar." This like the first offer was kindly 
refused. But as a final effort to show his good 
will, he said, " Father, if you will not drink or 
smoke, you surely can come in and have some chew- 
ing gum." 

When the religious service was held that same 
evening, my young friend was not present. I had 
the encouragement nevertheless of about forty men 
and three women at that religious service, the first 
that had been conducted in that town. In these new 
towns as a rule, the men are in the majority, not 
because they are the most pious, but most numerous. 

As a sequel to the incident of my first acquaint- 
ance in this new town on the Yellowstone, three 
months later I made another visit to this same town 
which in the meantime had doubled its population, 
and organized a church of seventeen members and 
ordained three elders. When we consider that home 
missionary work has been so poorly supported in 
comparison with the demand and opportunity, the 
success attained indicates the seal of God's approval. 
47 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

We do not claim continuous success, nor can we pre- 
sent a record that in any way can be called marvel- 
lous or extraordinary, but the instances of failure 
are so few, that unless magnified by those preju- 
diced, they are only spots on the sun of God's con- 
tinual blessing on home missionary endeavour. 

When we measure advance by the year, success 
may seem meagre, but measured by decades growth 
is marked and encouraging. Revivalistic and 
spasmodic methods have been in most cases failures 
in these western states. The people do not take to 
the modern evangelistic revivalists. The leader in 
Christian work must be long enough with the people 
to gain their confidence, respect and esteem, by his 
manly bearing, Christian virtues and social gifts, 
before he can do effectual work in enlisting their 
support. It is the steady pull that counts for sub- 
stantial gain. Flashlights soon go out and leave 
the darkness, darker than ever. Vaudeville 
methods are at a discount and engender only con- 
tempt and ridicule. 

Statistics cannot give a comprehensive view of 
what has been done, but they do indicate beyond a 
doubt encouraging progress. The past represents 
largely the seed sowing period, and that period does 
not show in figures the good that has been done, be- 
cause the harvest is to be gathered in future years. 
So far it is distinctively home missionary territory. 
In one denomination with 62 churches only eighteen 
48 



OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 

are self-supporting. In another with 70 churches 
only ten are self-supporting. In the larger cities 
beautiful and expensive church buildings have been 
erected. For example, the First Presbyterian 
Churches of Helena and Bozeman have buildings 
costing over $50,000 each, and represent the most 
costly Protestant church buildings in the state. 
These churches were organized in 1872 by Rev. Dr. 
Sheldon Jackson, and have ever since stood as 
strong towers of righteousness, and continue to be 
among the strong spiritual forces along the foothills 
of the Rockies. 

The writer attended his first meeting of Presby- 
tery in the spring of 1899 at Miles City. The Miles 
City church was then the only Presbyterian church 
organization east of Bozeman, a distance of two 
hundred and eighty-eight miles. In the last six 
years sixteen churches have been organized along 
the Yellowstone and the Presbytery of Yellow- 
stone has been organized, where ten years ago there 
was but one organization of this denomination. 
These examples of growth are not cited as mar- 
vellous, nor even as remarkable, for greater rec- 
ords have been made in different territories in 
other western states, but they do show that in a 
reasonable measure the church growth is in fair 
proportion to the ever increasing population of 
this the third largest state in area of the Union. 
This is only a limited vision and prophecy of the 
49 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

coming years ; only an index finger pointing to still 
larger reports of home missionary work in all these 
western states of the Rocky Mountain region, which 
not only announce the occupancy of new fields, but 
show inviting fields in other quarters, making new 
demands and extensive urgent calls for advance all 
along the frontier line. 

What has been said of the Northwest and Mon- 
tana in particular, may be said of the whole Rocky 
Mountain region, reaching through the states of 
Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyo- 
ming. This region is packed with undeveloped re- 
sources that are so far scarcely touched, but are al- 
ready contributing vast sums of wealth to the Na- 
tion. It includes all the precious ores, while the 
deposits of coal, marble and asbestos will stand the 
world's drain for centuries. Its agricultural re- 
sources exceed the mining output in several states. 
The government is expending millions to develop 
irrigation systems and multiply the acreage thus 
made available for homes and farms. 

The writer has the privilege of quoting at length 
from an address given by Rev. R. M. Donaldson, 
D. D., Field Secretary of the Rocky Mountain 
states, whose vision is far-reaching and compre- 
hensive of present and future possibilities. 

" Irrigation is more than an adjunct to agricul- 
ture, or a graft on public funds. It is a social and 
industrial factor. Because of it, civilization rises 
50 



OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 

out of desolate wastes. Where civilization dawns, 
the ministry of the Church of Christ is a necessity. 
Irrigation and ' dry farming ' have given us fully 
one-fourth of our present fields. The rural church 
is far from being obsolete. 

" This is a region whose dimensions are deter- 
mined by altitude as well as by latitude and longi- 
tude. Mt. Washington is the top of the world to 
New England and the whole Atlantic Coast. When 
they want something better, they hie away to the 
Alps. One railroad in Colorado and New Mexico 
reaches fifty-five towns that are higher than Mt. 
Washington, in twenty-five of which we have or- 
ganized churches. One of these towns (Leadville) 
is but a few feet less than an altitude of two miles 
above sea level. 

" In the state of Colorado alone, there are eighty 
mountain peaks which reach an altitude greater 
than that of the Matterhorn. These are only a part 
of the great mountain system upon whose plains and 
foothills and ranges, these seven states are built. 

"Of the three hundred and seventy-six churches 
of one single denomination in these states, fully one- 
third are located above an altitude of five thousand 
feet. From this altitude, one should be able to 
see large visions of opportunity and responsibility. 
In proof of this, the horizon of our churches lies 
far beyond the parish bounds. 

"Areas and physical resources are not the most 
5i 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

prominent features of this mountain land. We do 
not see all that ought to be seen, unless we see God. 
We do not move as we ought to move, unless we 
march with Him. With marvellous swiftness He 
is marshalling the material and spiritual forces for 
the conquest of the nation and of the world. 

" It is impossible to realize what progress has been 
made, unless we compare the present with the past. 
Veterans of the Civil War are still numbered by the 
hundred-thousands, yet there is not a single Pres- 
byterian church in the Rocky Mountain district to- 
day that was organized when the Civil War closed. 
The report of the Home Board in 1864, names only 
one missionary at work in Colorado, but no church 
was organized until nearly four years after that 
date. It was not till April 29, 1869, that Doctor 
Sheldon Jackson, T. H. Cleland and John Elliott, 
held that historic prayer-meeting on Prospect Hill, 
above Sioux City. The spiritual outlook given to 
them was one of the contributing causes to the rapid 
multiplying of church organizations and the pro- 
moting of religious interests in the Rocky Moun- 
tains. 

" The increase of population and the development 
of our material resources are among the marvels of 
our generation. There is abundant evidence that 
the church has not been unmindful of its oppor- 
tunity. Her ministers have brought the touch of 
Christian fellowship and of good cheer to the trap- 
52 



OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 

per, prospector, miner, stockman, and rancher 
throughout the region. The history of the West 
can never be written without paying its tribute to 
the hardy pioneer. 

" Those who live in older communities, inheriting 
homes, churches, schools, public buildings, even their 
roads and fences, cannot realize at what expense 
we must build everything from sage brush to civili- 
zation within a single decade. More than a score 
of places where we are at work, have reached a 
population of from two thousand to ten thousand, 
since the twentieth century dawned, in localities 
where there was nothing but desert or wilderness, 
or at most, a hamlet. It is no small task to build 
a city with modern equipment to meet the need of 
body, mind and soul; yet it is done by a people 
whose industry and courage, include spiritual as 
well as material enterprise. Many of these 
churches reach rapidly to self support, and become 
generous contributors to the general work of the 
church. Contrary to the common opinion, few 
churches attain the average for local support that 
is attained by many of our home mission churches. 
Two of these, in different states, with a member- 
ship of less than twenty-five, have sustained an 
average per year of forty dollars per member for 
pastor's support. While many communities are not 
so generous, yet the spirit of the people bears this 
stamp. The problems of pauperism are practically. 
53 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

unknown. It is generally true that the man who 
seeks labour can find it ; that the man who is indus- 
trious and honest has little fault to find with labour's 
rewards. Many counties have no "poor farm," 
because they do not need one. A business man 
says, that there are so few dependents in his county 
that it w r ould be cheaper for the county to pay 
their board at a first class hotel, than to own and 
support an institution in which to care for them. 

" The church at large has abundantly demon- 
strated its faith in the mountain states. During a 
half century of small beginnings, she has invested 
vast fortunes of the Lord's treasure, prospecting, 
building, teaching, and evangelizing. Have the 
time and money been well invested? 

" The more than one thousand self-supporting 
churches in the several denominations, ought to be 
sufficient answer. 

" Nor does our mountain vision preclude the vis- 
ion of the world's great need. Our eyes are not 
closed to the beckoning hands across the seas. 
Most of our strong churches have their own mission- 
ary or parish abroad. Oriental classes in many of 
the churches give evidence that women are willing 
to render at home the same service they ask from 
others abroad. 

" Much land remains to be possessed. Without 
disregarding the principle of comity or federation-, 
we are in no danger of running out of work. Colo- 
54 



OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 

rado is more nearly supplied with Gospel privileges 
than any other mountain state, yet fifty thousand 
of her population are without stated religious serv- 
ices. Our Utah missionaries have given their 
summer vacations for the last five years, to tent 
work in remote fields. During the summer of 
1910, their two tents and twelve workers gave 
eighty-one days of service, preaching to three thou- 
sand Mormons, most of whom were young people. 
There are still one hundred fifty towns in the state, 
with an estimated population of twenty thousand, 
who have never heard a Christian minister. With 
this class of people the tent work is the most effici- 
ent. Only a few days ago, a minister in Idaho told 
of an American girl, thirteen years of age, who was 
never in a Sunday school, and never heard a sermon 
until she spent a week in his home recently. This 
is true of many well-born, well-behaved, intelligent 
young men and women whose homes are in the 
remote places that have not yet been reached. We 
cannot fulfill the Lord's great commission until we 
reach our own unchurched communities." 

So the vision crowds upon us, visions of oppor- 
tunity, or obligation, of the age-old plans of God 
and the plans of far-seeing men who are fellow- 
labourers with Him. It is a vision that stirs the 
blood, that gives wings to hope, that inspires to 
Christly service in the spirit of Him who " came 
not to be ministered unto, but to minister." 
55 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

Dr. Arthur T. Pierson in his " Crisis of Mis- 
sions," says with marked appropriateness to pres- 
ent conditions in the West, " Every conceivable 
motive, therefore, urges us to undertake a crusade 
against the powers of darkness. The command of 
our ascended Lord, the voice of an enlightened con- 
science, the impulse of the new nature, the leading 
of the providential pillar, the work of transforming 
grace, the grandeur of our opportunity, and the 
peril of delay — all these converge like rays in the 
burning focus, urging us onward and forward to 
the outposts of civilization and the limits of human 
habitation with the word of life. Let the trumpet 
signal be heard all along the lines; God has already 
sounded His signal, and like that appeal at Sinai, 
it is long and loud. The last precept and promise 
of our Lord, which have inspired all true service 
and sacrifice, echo with new force and emphasis, 
louder and clearer, in the face of new openings and 
new victories. " Blessed is he who, like Paul, is im- 
mediately obedient to the heavenly vision." 

One phase of home missionary work differenti- 
ates it from that of the foreign field and emphasizes 
the demand for men most thoroughly prepared, 
who confront the opportunity and accept the re- 
sponsibility of a home missionary, viz. — his task 
is not the evangelization of heathen, but the Christ- 
ianization of American civilization. This in many 
respects is a more stupendous undertaking than the 
56 



OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 

evangelization of heathendom. There is a self- 
righteousness which characterizes our civilization, 
a sort of self-satisfaction which covers the sores of 
sin with the flower's fragrance of self-esteem, 
soothing the human mind into an unconscious state 
of guilt before God. Civilized society has ad- 
vantages over pagan, but it is harder to make the 
former realize its condition and its need of Cal- 
vary's redemption, than the latter. Heathendom 
is so destitute that, when the True Light is brought 
into view, its darkness is the more manifest. Civ- 
ilized society has so much that is truth, moral, and 
beautiful, that the one thing lacking is difficult to 
realize. It is hard to convince a civilized people 
that they are sick; that a scholarly and educated 
Nicodemus, must seek salvation and be born from 
above, as well as the pagan in ignorance and dark- 
ness. The distinction made by society which is 
only civilized, between the "Light of Asia" and 
the "Light of the World," is not clearly defined, 
and much less understood. 

Thinking of God as too just to condemn the 
heathen, surely He is not so unjust as to condemn 
the enlightened. That the condemnation is still 
greater for those who know the truth and do it not, 
than for those who know it not and therefore can- 
not do it, is a part of the teaching of Jesus this 
state of mind has not studied to a final conclusion. 

Let it be understood then that we are undertak- 
57 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

ing no little task in the Christianization of a civi- 
lized people. Therefore we are not asking mis- 
sionary aid for this country, to simply assist in 
maintaining struggling churches, but to aid in es- 
tablishing the Kingdom of God in a section of the 
United States which is being rapidly settled by 
America's best sons and daughters, and destined in 
the near future, both religiously and politically, to 
be among the influential factors of the continent. 
Two score years ago the record of this country 
along the Rockies was that of several big mining 
camps and a few cattle and sheep ranches ; two gen- 
erations ago a few fur traders and here and there 
a lumber camp and a few settlers who spent most 
of their time in hunting, fishing, trapping and 
drinking whiskey. The class of people who were 
in this region then had no interest in religion. 
They were here as transients with no purpose of 
making it their home. The early missionaries who 
had to deal with this class, laboured under difficulties 
of which strangers to the conditions existing in that 
day can form no just conception. The work ac- 
complished by these early pioneers was most re- 
markable in results when all things are taken into 
account. But the class of settlers coming West to- 
day are coming to stay and make for themselves 
and their children permanent homes. They want 
and seek religious privileges and are the making of 
58 



OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 

that class of citizens who represent the influential 
factors in every community. But without the edu- 
cational, social and religious influence of the church, 
any community is in a state of decay. We do not 
claim that the kingdom of God is bounded by the 
church, but the church is bounded by the kingdom 
of God, and represents in every well ordered com- 
munity an institution that affiliates with every 
force that has for its goal the uplift of society. 

The laissez-faire principle does not and will not 
save societly, build empires of righteousness, nor 
establish constitutions of freedom. Eternal vigil- 
ance is the watchword of liberty, and the constant 
necessity of great achievement. Men worthy to be 
called prophets are pointing out signs which indi- 
cate " the speedy approach of some mightier crisis 
than has ever yet been registered on the pages of 
history," and it may be that the crisis is near at 
hand. Surely delay for a more auspicious season 
for a forward movement, can be designated by no 
milder terms than criminal hesitancy. It has been 
said by some one that " nations rise to the climax of 
their life and humanity unfolds its enormous dor- 
mant capacities, only when religion enters into a 
living and inspiring relation to all the rest of human 
life." 

Our country must have more than civilization. 
It must have Christ as a controlling force. There 
59 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

is no excuse if we as a nation do not achieve a his- 
tory and destiny whose ruling passion is the altru- 
ism of Calvary's cross. 

Material wealth and prosperity, and the grand 
enterprise of commerce, cannot work out our sal- 
vation without holiness and the sacrificial altar. 
Great continental railroads already cross our plains, 
pass over or through the mountains, and still more 
are being built, great cities are rising along the foot- 
hills and on the vast stretches of prairie, but unless 
these material signs of marvellous progress, shall 
be accompanied with regenerating power of the 
Gospel, unless churches and a Christian conscience 
erect bulwarks of social order, morality and piety, 
the foundations of peace and prosperity are not se- 
cure. Material riches and physical features are 
only to be looked upon as God-given opportunities 
for the church of Christ to use in planting Chris- 
tian institutions that will keep pace with the star 
of empire in its westward march. 

While spending a vacation in the Puget Sound 
region, I was permitted to visit one of our splendid 
$12,000,000 battleships. Although the building of 
these great warships is impoverishing civilized na- 
tions, we have nevertheless a sort of patriotic pride 
in these mighty dreadnaughts of the sea. On this 
occasion I learned something about our Navy I 
never knew before, but which I was glad to learn. 
The captain after showing me the splendid equip- 
60 



OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 

ment and elegant furnishings, took me into the 
watch tower for a general view of this monster 
vessel. There were floating all the flags of the 
nations. The captain with patriotic pride in- 
formed me that it was a rule of the Navy that the 
stars and stripes were never allowed to float under- 
neath the flags of other nations; it always hung 
from the top-mast, " Except," he said, " on one 
occasion when there was an exception to this rule, 
and that was on Sabbath morning when the sailors 
and officers of the ship were assembled for religious 
worship; then the flag of our nation was lowered 
and the Red Cross Banner of Christ was lifted 
above them all." 

When I learned this fact, my blood tingled a 
little quicker with fervent patriotism. On think- 
ing of this official and national act in the acknowl- 
edgment of the sovereignty of our Lord and Sav- 
iour Jesus Christ, for a moment at least, in spite 
of the sins and graft and present day revelations 
of political corruption so rife, I was thankful as 
never before, of being an American citizen. 

Should it not inspire every one of us to a truer 
patriotism as we think of our nation in humble 
worship thus honouring the Cross, the symbol of 
our Lord's sovereignty and His redemptive power. 
Not only our nation, but let it be said to the honour 
of some other nations and great powers, that the 
Christ is acknowledged Lord over all. 
61 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

This inscription is found on the fly leaf of an 
old Bible, presented to the old Bruton church, Wil- 
liamsburg, Virginia, at the three hundredth anni- 
versary of the permanent establishment of English 
civilization in America. The inscription is as fol- 
lows : " This is presented by his Majesty, King 
Edward, the Seventh, King of Great Britain and 
Ireland, and Emperor of India, to the church 
of Bruton — a shrine rich in venerable traditions of 
worship, in solemn memories of patriots and states- 
men, and in historic witness to the oneness of 
our peoples. The King will ever hope and pray 
that the ties of kinship and language and the com- 
mon heritage of ordered worship and ennobling 
ideas, may through the saving faith in our Lord and 
Redeemer Jesus Christ, revealed in these sacred 
pages, continue to unite Great Britain and America 
in a beneficient fellowship for setting forward peace 
and good-will among all men." 

While therefore we may feel a certain patriotic 
pride in the defence afforded by our great and 
magnificent battleships, yet may we not believe that 
the sacred teachings of the Book has still more 
defensive power in deciding all questions of dispute 
between nations, and a still greater influence in unit- 
ing all kindred and tongues " in a beneficent fellow- 
ship for setting forward peace and good will among 
all men.'' 

On a pinnacle of the Cordillera of the Andes, 
62 



OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 

fourteen thousand feet above sea level, surrounded 
by other peaks of perpetual snow, stands a monu- 
ment to Christ. The statue cost about one hundred 
thousand dollars, and was paid for by subscriptions 
from the people, the working classes contributing 
liberally. Chile and Argentine have lifted it as a 
tangible witness of international brotherhood. On 
the granite pedestal of this monument is this in- 
scription : " Sooner shall these mountains crumble 
to dust than Argentines and Chileans break the 
peace which at the feet of Christ the Redeemer they 
have sworn to maintain." On the opposite side of 
the base, the angel song of Bethlehem, " On earth 
peace, good will toward all men." So it has come 
to pass that He is recognized as the way, the life 
and the truth, more powerful than dreadnaughts, 
for maintaining international peace. 

Let this truth be proclaimed in all lands and to 
all people, until the dynamic power of its person- 
ality in the revealed Christ, touch capital and make 
it kind; touch education and rid it of paganism; 
touch politics and engraft righteousness ; touch cor- 
porations and make them servants of God; touch 
nations and make them obedient to the King of 
Kings. 

Now is the opportunity and may the responsibil- 
ity be accepted with that devotion and loyalty by 
the whole church which is sure to crown effort with 
success. There have been times when the church 
63 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

confronted crises as great as those before it now on 
certain fields ; but never before has there been such 
a synchronizing of crises in all parts of the world. 
This is a testing time for the church, and if it 
neglects to meet successfully the present world 
crises by failing to discharge its responsibility to the 
whole world, it will weaken its power both on the 
home and foreign fields, and seriously handicap its 
mission to the coming generations. Nothing less 
than the inadequacy of Christianity as a world re- 
ligion is on trial. 

This is a decisive hour for Christian missions. 
The call of Providence to our Lord's disciples, of 
whatever ecclesiastical connection, is direct and 
urgent to undertake without delay the task of carry- 
ing the Gospel to all the world. 

It is high time to face this duty and with serious 
purpose discharge it. The opportunity is inspir- 
ing; the responsibility is undeniable. The Gospel 
is all-inclusive in its scope, and we are convinced 
that there never was a time more favourable for 
uniting our forces, and by prayerful action make the 
universality of the idea a practical reality in the his- 
tory of the church. 

Dr. Charles L. Thompson said in an address be- 
fore the General Assembly at Denver in 1909, " The 
day of small things between nations is past. The 
battles around the Mediterranean were trifles com- 
pared to the marshalling of final forces on the Medi- 
64 



OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 

terranean of the west. And the flag those forces 
shall fly — white in friendship, or bloody in battle 
— will be determined most of all by the moral char- 
acter of our country, and especially of the Pacific 
Empire. Wake up, O Church of God: before op- 
portunity stiffens into destiny." 

It seems that we have machinery enough. What 
is needed is power, that will put this machinery into 
active service in the great conquest going on be- 
tween the powers of light and darkness. 

It is related that when Ole Bull was in the zenith 
of his triumph, he played before the students of 
Princeton university. As he played they heard the 
birds warbling among the trees of the forest; they 
heard the storms as they thundered back and forth 
among the crags of the mountains, and then the 
tones became so soft and so sweet they could almost 
believe a mother was singing her babe asleep. 
When he finished, they crowded around him with 
congratulations and expressions of praise for his 
wonderful gift. He said to them, " It is not in the 
instrument or bow, though I use the best that money 
can buy ; it is not in the fingers that press the strings 
or in the hand that draws the bow. If there is 
anything to tell, it is this, I never play until my soul 
is full, and the music is the overflow of the soul." 

If we have been trying to play the melodies of 
Jesus, without this soul- fulness ; if we have been 
wondering why men did not stop and listen and 
65 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

bow in homage before our Lord, may it not be that 
the secret of our disappointment has been in our 
lack of soul earnestness? 

Unless our education, our doctrines, and all our 
equipments are animated with the Divine Spirit, the 
Gospel we preach will fail to manifest the power of 
God. The greatness of our task and the weakness 
of our earthen vessel, both emphasize the need, yea, 
the necessity of keeping close against the heart of 
the Infinite One, for the fellowship that will put 
the touch of power into our ministry, and enable us 
to accomplish that which pleases our Master. 

I cannot more fittingly close this chapter than by 
quoting the language of Bishop Charles H. Fowler 
on the missionary idea. " Behind Calvary, beneath 
the Cross, older than the Book, the sacrament, the 
sacrifice, the ceremonial — all the panorama of re- 
demption is the eternal love of God, who purposes 
to save man by the Redeemer, the Holy Spirit, and 
the ministry of the church. This love which stoops 
to the guilt and need of man, is an infinite shore- 
less ocean beyond our thought or description. 
Here is the missionary idea. To apologize for it, 
is to apologize for Calvary, which is its expres- 



66 



CHAPTER IV 

HEROISM IN HOME MISSIONS 

WE both hear and read a great deal about 
heroism in foreign missions, but much 
less has been said or written about the 
heroic element in home missionary work. The 
story of self-sacrifice and the courage required in 
pioneer work in our own country has not been writ- 
ten and perhaps never will be, for much of it is 
that kind of service, generally unnoticed and un- 
recorded by the publicity bureau. 
' The demoniac out of whom Christ cast the dev- 
jils, besought Him that he might be with Him. 
LBut Jesus sent him away, saying, " Return to thine 
own house and show how great things Jesus hath 
done unto thee." He went his way and published 
through the whole city how great things Jesus had 
done unto him. It would have been much easier 
to have followed Jesus and joined the disciples, 
than to have returned to his own city and there 
testify for Christ. With Jesus and His disciples, 
he would have had the personal and present inspi- 
ration and sympathy of their direct fellowship, but 
6 7 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

to go back to his own town and home, required 
more courage and fortitude. 

There is a certain glamour thrown around the 
foreign missionary, that is not manifest in the case 
of a home missionary. Let me give a single illus- 
tration as proof of this statement. It is an in- 
stance that came under my personal observation. 

In the city of B there was a meeting of the 

Synod. An esteemed and eminently successful 
foreign missionary lady was to be present to ad- 
dress the Synod. Also an equally eminent and 
successful home missionary lady, who had devoted 
her life to the Christianizing of a certain tribe of In- 
dians in our own country. The story of her sacri- 
fice and devotion was known to only a few who 
were intimately acquainted with her work. She 
was a graduate of college and had prepared herself 
for this special work. When announcement was 
made the previous Sabbath to the convening of 
Synod, the pastor had ten applications to entertain 
the foreign missionary lady, but not one for the 
home missionary, and in fact solicitation for her 
entertainment was necessary. After she had made 
her address and the people heard the story of her 
work, and what great things had been accomplished 
through her devotion, invitations to dinner were 
not wanting, for then there was no little competi- 
tion in efforts of the entertainers to show her hos- 
pitality. They did not expect such gifts, refine- 
68 



HEROISM IN HOME MISSIONS 

ment and ability from a home missionary. Why 
did they not expect it? Let the reader draw his 
own conclusion. 

We would not detract in the least from the glory 
and honour the foreign missionary deserves and re- 
ceives, but we should be a little more ready to 
recognize the heroic element in the self-denial and 
self-forgetfulness of those high-souled men and 
women, whose lives have made it possible to tell 
the story of missionary enterprise in America. 

There are student volunteer associations, whose 
purpose is to enlist young men of ability and con- 
secration as heralds of the Gospel in foreign lands. 
The heroic element has been emphasized (and it 
is right that it should be) and appeals for volun- 
teers have been made along this line with marked 
success. Many of our strongest young men have 
volunteered to become foreign missionaries through 
such an appeal, and consecrated their gifts and set 
their faces thitherwards long before the finishing 
day of their preparation. 

There is a patriotism in human nature that re- 
sponds to the call for self-sacrifice, and which 
turns a deaf ear to any call with this element left 
out Our country is experiencing great difficulty 
in these days of peace to secure volunteers in suffi- 
cient numbers to keep up our regular army. The 
low wages paid the private soldier has been assigned 
as the principal reason why men will not enlist. 
69 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

But this is not the reason. Times of peace are not 
so heroic as times of conflict. It is rather because 
the call for volunteers in the army to-day does not 
carry with it opportunity for heroism. When our 
nation has been engaged in war there has always 
been a ready response. During the Civil War, 
mothers, wives and daughters, stitched and sewed 
through tear-lensed eyes, because the fathers, hus- 
bands and sons had listened to their country's call, 
and had gone to the tented field, ready for that 
sacrifice which counts not life too costly. Thou- 
sands volunteer in times of war, for one in times of 
peace. The question of low wages is not a con- 
sideration when a nation's life is in peril. 

So it is in missionary work. For foreign work 
there are more volunteers than can be sent by the 
limited means at command of the foreign boards. 
These volunteers represent the highest grade of 
scholarship and include the most promising men en- 
tering the ministry. But when a similar call is 
made for home missionary work out on the firing 
line, there is an indifferent response. But why the 
difference? We are insisting that there should be 
no distinction between foreign and home mission- 
ary work. It is one work, the extension of the 
Kingdom and the fulfillment of the great com- 
mand of the Captain of our salvation, " Go ye into 
all the world." So it is one work and should be 
designated as missionary work, without any quali- 
70 



HEROISM IN HOME MISSIONS 

fying adjectives to indicate our own country or a 
foreign people. All who have not accepted Jesus 
Christ as Lord over all and in all, are foreigners 
to the kingdom of God, whether they live in so- 
called Christian or heathen lands. Whence then 
the difference ? The needs here in the far West are 
as great as any place in the world, when we take 
into consideration the proportionate influence, and 
we would think ought to be a stronger appeal to 
Christian patriotism. But such is evidently not 
the case. In our eastern cities a prominent man 
writes me that ministers are falling over each other 
in their efforts to get a hearing in some vacant pul- 
pit; that from ten to fifty applications are made for 
every vacancy, and yet they tell us there is a dearth 
of ministers. So there is in some places, but not in 
others. It is the policy of tramps to frequent those 
localities and beg their subsistence where there is 
the least to do, and they shun districts where, there 
is a demand for labour. So it would seem that min- 
isters seek localities already crowded with minis- 
ters and shun the places where there is the greatest 
need. 

In our seminaries we have a class of men, who 
before their course of preparation is finished have 
enlisted for the foreign field. To that work they 
are ready to go and will go, in spite of flattering 
calls from other churches, where remuneration is 
really tempting to such as can be tempted by assur- 
71 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

ance of comfort above the average. But if there 
is such a class in our seminaries consecrated to work 
on the western frontier of our own land, we, who 
have the responsibility of securing ministers for 
these fields, have not so far discovered it. If 
there is no such class in our seminaries it indicates 
a need that should be supplied. Men for work on 
the frontier firing line need special training and 
preparation for this kind of service. They need 
to know something more than philosophy, Latin, 
Greek, Hebrew, theology, church history and eccle- 
siastical government. A knowledge of all these 
will not by any means be a disqualification. The 
men who build the church of God in this new 
country, must as a rule build on foundations of 
their own digging and erect the superstructure of 
their own planning, without any cabinet of elders 
and spiritual advisers. (The construction must be 
from raw material. They must solicit funds and 
know how to approach business men and plead the 
Lord's cause with those who rather boastfully 
acknowledge no church relation and who are 
reached only through the social side of life. They 
may be generous often times to a fault, for both 
good and bad objects appeal to their beneficence. 
The successful minister is sometimes designated out 
here as a good "mixer." I do not like the term, 
but it means social qualities that can be all things 
to all men, without lowering the standard or dig- 
72 



HEROISM IN HOME MISSIONS 

nity of his high calling. To meet the conditions 
of success in these frontier fields, the minister ought 
not to be in that state of preparation where all the 
practical things must be learned after he undertakes 
his work. There is much that must be learned in 
the ministry that no seminary can teach, but there 
is much of the practical that can be learned, and 
ought to be learned without the expensive lesson of 
experience. 

The ministerial supply for home mission work 
has come to be a more serious question than the 
church realizes at the present time. It is com- 
paratively easy to organize new churches and plant 
missionary stations along frontier lines. The more 
serious problem is to supply these churches with a 
ministry consecrated and adapted to the work. 

The requirements for such a ministry are simple 
and few. A great head is not always essential, but 
a great heart must ever be. All the eloquence re- 
quired is the product of an inspired heart intensely 
positive and spiritual. Not dogmatic, but construc- 
tive ability, that knows how to make something out 
of raw material; the gift which stimulates no 
doubts, but directs thought to definite conclusions; 
a man having the power of initiative and sympathy 
broad enough and strong enough to help in all 
phases of soul struggle, especially appreciative of 
the difficulties of young people, for this is the class 
he has to win and save ; preaching with no uncertain 
73 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

sound concerning the fundamentals of religious life, 
so that those who hear him feel that they are 
brought in touch with a man who believes his mes- 
sage, believes it intensely and is anxious to have 
others believe it also, — these epitomize the need. 

If these are simple requirements, they are such 
that can only be taught to those who have hearts 
prepared by nature and grace. Education and bril- 
liant gifts, accompanied with the above mentioned 
graces, insure certain success on the home mission 
field. 

The appeal for such men cannot be made on the 
basis of material reward, but only to the recom- 
pense of reward God gives to every faithful serv- 
ant. Unless men have an open ear to hear the call 
of God to go where the need is the greatest, and 
where there are few to supply that need, the call 
will be made in vain. Home mission work ac- 
cepted as a last resort had better go unheeded. 

There shall be no attempt in these chapters to re- 
late the hardships of the missionary on the frontier. 
If I wished to do so there is plenty of material with- 
in my knowledge. Some of the stories I could 
relate would be pathetic, and some might be called 
tragedies. It is not deemed wise to publish them, 
for the reason that they are the rare exceptions and 
not the rule. In fact the real hardships of pioneer 
life, the pathetic and tragical, are more common 
in other professions than in the ministry. The 
74 



HEROISM IN HOME MISSIONS 

courage and bravery of many a man and wife, in 
their arduous and often times hazardous efforts to 
provide for themselves and their children a home 
they can call their own, deserves the honour heroes 
merit. The men and women living in the shacks, 
which now dot the bench lands and foot-hills of the 
mountains, are not the crude, rude and uneducated 
their habitations would indicate. 

Having been invited recently to hold a religious 
service in a new settlement, so new that a post- 
office had not been appointed, where about twenty 
homesteaders had filed on claims, the above state- 
ment finds illustration. The only place for gather- 
ing an assembly was the living room of a log cabin. 
There were seventeen gathered for this meeting, it 
being the first religious service conducted in the new 
settlement. They represented six eastern states. 
In that small gathering there were three men and 
two women graduates of eastern colleges. One 
man had been receiving three thousand per year in 
a government position, which he resigned on ac- 
count of failing health. He came to the West for 
other than material gain. He and his wife were 
living in a small one room house, the one room 
being kitchen, parlour, dining and bedroom. A 
happier home would be hard to find. Their renewed 
health, prospects of better conditions and promise 
of future independence, all contributed to their un- 
speakable joy. Hardships are not serious hind- 
75 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

ranees to the blessings of home. The failure of 
first crops, the disappointments of unrealized ex- 
pectations, the stringent economy and want of com- 
forts deemed necessary by those who have never 
had the experience of such deprivation, develop a 
type of character which refuses to accept defeat. 
These first homesteaders are bearing the brunt of 
those adversities which must be met in all newly 
settled countries. They blaze the trail for a second 
or third generation of comfortable homes with mod- 
ern conveniences. 

The missionary who comes as their spiritual ad- 
viser and helper, cannot expect the luxuries of a well 
furnished home, nor the adornments of what we call 
up-to-date church building in which to worship. 
Let me however assure the reader that there is a 
pleasure in preaching to a small company of pio- 
neer settlers in a log school house, with only benches 
for seats, that cannot be appreciated without the ex- 
perience. There is a loftier inspiration than comes 
from organ gallery or cushioned pew. 

The missionaries' recompense is of a quality in- 
comprehensible to the fastidious clergyman, whose 
environment has constantly been such as wealth 
could furnish. 

The inspiration comes from shaping things out 
of raw material. Just as an Angelo sees in the 
rough stone, beautiful forms of angels to be 
wrought through his skill and touch, so with the 

76 



HEROISM IN HOME MISSIONS 

ministry under crude conditions. The building on 
no other man's foundation, carries with it incen- 
tive to enthusiasm, and is exultant in the process 
of completion. The man who has given his all for 
the Master's use, will not be deterred or frightened 
when confronted with a service that means self- 
denial. The missionaries' recompense, or in fact, 
that of any minister, is not measured by dollar 
marks. The average minister's salary in the United 
States, as reported by the census of 1906, is six 
hundred sixty-three dollars. The statistician ad- 
mits, however, that results in this first attempt to 
secure official figures concerning the salaries paid 
ministers, is not entirely satisfactory, on account 
of the failure of some to report the salary, and of 
others to report with sufficient clearness. In some 
instances it could not be determined whether the 
amount reported was yearly or monthly salary. 
Therefore we cannot place dependence on the ac- 
curacy of such statistics. That ministers' salaries 
are very meagre in comparison with earnings of 
other professions, demanding long preparation and 
large expenditure of money, we must readily admit. 
The minister is not supposed to choose his profes- 
sion under the influence of salary inducement. Let 
us then dismiss the subject of material wages. The 
chief recompense in any profession of life, more 
especially that of the ministry, consists in self-sac- 
rificing devotion to the interests of others. This is 
77 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

the teaching of Calvary's cross. Prompted by its 
teaching and living under its influence, we come 
into the possession of the highest conceivable recom- 
pense for this life, and the only service that has 
any promise of reward in the future. The great- 
ness of any man's power is the measure of his sur- 
render. Judging from my own experience, the 
salary question looms up more largely in the view 
of the young minister, than it does after ten or fif- 
teen years of active service. 

A senior in one of our theological seminaries 
wrote me a few years ago, refusing a call given 
him to a missionary church on the frontier, on the 
ground that he could not possibly live on less than 
twelve hundred dollars and free manse per year. 

He accepted a call in an eastern village, which 
had reached its possibility of growth a quarter of a 
century before. He was promised what was in his 
estimation the minimum salary on which a min- 
ister could live. Recently I received a letter from 
the same person offering his services for frontier 
work, saying, that salary was no consideration, if 
he could only be given a field of labor with possi- 
bilities of growth. In the meantime, the mission 
church which seemed so small to him ten years 
previous, had now grown to such proportions and 
strength as to pay its minister eighteen hundred 
dollars per year and manse. 

Here is another illustration of the opposite kind 
78 



HEROISM IN HOME MISSIONS 

that has come under my personal observation. A 
young man about to graduate from the seminary a 
few years ago, applied for a missionary field, say- 
ing, that he wished to devote the first five years of 
his ministry to strictly missionary work, and that 
he was willing to take any field however difficult, 
where there was opportunity for usefulness. He 
was given a most difficult field, which he soon de- 
veloped into a self-supporting church. Then he 
asked for another mission charge and undertook an- 
other apparently hopeless field and was as eminently 
successful, where others had failed. His success- 
ful ministry in small places attracted attention from 
larger places, and now he preaches every Sabbath to 
the largest Protestant congregation in the state. 
Who will not recognize his heroic spirit from the 
beginning and all through the steps by which he 
was led to his present attainment and eminence. 
He is still fired with the missionary spirit, and in 
addition to his work in his large congregation and 
rapidly growing city, gives unsparingly of his time 
to mission fields near by. His success has been his 
recompense as well as an inspiration for larger 
things. Only the heroic can make such a record. 
But there are other compensations than the joy 
of success. In all our frontier villages and coun- 
try districts there is the reward that comes from a 
most sincere appreciation of self-denial and conse- 
crated endeavour in the Master's service. I do not 
79 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

mention this as the reward that belongs exclusively 
to the missionary, but it is an undisputed fact that 
sharing of hardships cements friendship. Every 
pastor knows the value of friends, but the most en- 
during ties are those which have been made through 
the ministry of sanctified sorrow. 

There is no comparing the blessings of a big 
salary in any secular pursuit, to those which come 
to the ministry of one whose unselfish devotion 
has won the hearts of a community, and especially 
of a new community, where common hardships pro- 
duce social equality and form friendships through 
a ministry that is marked by the altruism of the 
Cross. He becomes the uncrowned king before 
whom the people bow with reverence, in acknowl- 
edgment of an authority obtained by merit of good 
works. 

Our age has been characterized as lacking the 
reverential spirit; that the ministry no longer en- 
joys that respect due so holy a calling. If this be 
true, may it not be as much the fault of the min- 
istry as that of the age in which we live? However 
true the above inference may be in some parts of 
the country, out here along the Rockies, or what 
has been fictitiously called the " wild and woolly 
West " ; a virtuous woman and a consecrated min- 
ister, have the devout respect they deserve. This 
is true, not only in the fellowship of religious peo- 
ple, but also in the rougher elements of society. 
80 



HEROISM IN HOME MISSIONS 

The writer has often been thrown in the association 
of the latter in his itinerary through the state; on 
stage coaches, in hotels, and in some instances where 
saloons have been given for religious service ; yet in 
no instance have I ever been treated with any other 
than real and sincere respect, and in most cases 
with devout reverence. There is no need of carry- 
ing concealed weapons for personal protection in 
any part of the West. We have many "undesir- 
able citizens," but even those who may be thus 
classified have not lost the instinct to act in a 
gentlemanly manner when occasions require. 

Another source of recompense is found in the 
satisfaction of building on no other man's founda- 
tion. If the great Apostle to the Gentiles could 
boast of this as one of the inspiring features of his 
missionary endeavours, we may with like modesty 
find in this a similar source of recompense in pioneer 
work. To know that in one respect at least we are 
doing the same kind of work that fanned the zeal 
and fired the courage of the Apostles of the early 
church, is some compensation for the hardships of 
present day pioneer service. 

The organization of churches, the gathering of 
foundational material, fostering the beginnings of 
promising enterprises, sowing the seed and nur- 
turing the infant growth of undertakings that 
promise rich fruitage in the future, richly compen- 
sate the missionary for the necessary denial of many 
81 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

material comforts. It requires a high order of 
heroism to see compensation in such service, for 
it is visible only to the vision of faith. It is the 
pioneer missionary's common function to know 
something of the fellowship of Christ's suffering. 
He could not prevent spiritual conquest from be- 
ing enormously costly. This kind of service ex- 
acts vicarious travail of soul in behalf of an unre- 
generate world. It exacts toiling burdens, like a 
mother's, in bearing the infirmities of the weak and 
sinful. It exacts self -abnegating service for which 
earthly rewards will not compensate, no proxy sup- 
plant, and no lesser gift than divine love requite. 
" That which thou sowest is not quickened except it 
die." " He that loveth his life shall lose it." The 
crucified is not the only great substitute for dying 
sinners. His prototypes are on the earth to-day in 
the living heroes who are enduring hardness as good 
soldiers in the great world conquest for souls. 

Herein is the high ideal of missionary service, 
and the recompense is as great as the ideal is high. 
Any lower appeal is fruitless and unworthy of seri- 
ous consideration. When a man falls below his 
profession, he will miss the only real recompense 
that inspires unfailing courage in spiritual conquest, 
let it be along the Rockies, or in the fever stricken 
jungles of Africa. We are not told that our vic- 
tories will come without conquest, but we are told 
that we may ever rejoice in their certainty. 
82 



HEROISM IN HOME MISSIONS 

The calamity plea, and cry for pitying sympathy 
in behalf of the poor missionary is humiliating to 
say the least. Missionary boxes are out of date or 
ought to be. Men sent out by Christ, as Christ was 
sent by the Father, are degraded by such senti- 
mental efforts to relieve destitution. All sentimen- 
tality about high purposes and divine callings and 
Holy Spirit leadings, shrivel under the blighting 
influence of a coddled ministry. The men on the 
frontier, blazing the trail for a future church, lift- 
ing the standard of the cross in the name of Him 
who died thereon, who have come into such a serv- 
ice, not from necessity, but from choice, are not 
wasting time in exposing their hardships as a beggar 
his sores, to obtain alms through sentimental emo- 
tion. They have meat to eat and bread to 
strengthen of which the world knows not and can- 
not know, because not spiritually discerned. 

This is therefore no field for dull and phlegmatic 
minds, or hearts too small for sympathy for the 
worst, nor spirits so holy and heavenly as to be 
happy only with saints. In the West we have 
passed the cowboy period. The missionary does 
not need to carry a gun, nor need he be a pugilist. 
He must be however able to command the respect of 
men by his manly bearing; of the college graduate, 
as well as that of the rough pioneer. As a rule the 
people do not go to church simply to worship. Un- 
less the minister can speak and preach and have 
83 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

something to present to a thinking people, he will 
not likely draw many to hear him. There are more 
educated people and college graduates in these 
western towns than in the average eastern village. 
A high degree of intelligence and education is de- 
manded for an efficient missionary. 

To go to China or Japan, to South America or 
the North Pole, is esteemed heroic; and no doubt 
it does demand heroism ; but it should be thought no 
less heroic to go to a mining camp or a rural dis- 
trict in Montana. Such service may be thought of 
as commonplace by those who are unacquainted 
with conditions and difficulties the home missionary 
has to contend against, but those who have the ac- 
tual experience know well enough that more than 
the commonplace is required for successful work. 
If the facts were known, the hardships and self- 
denials of the home missionary demand a truer 
type of heroism than any work to which the Lord 
calls on the foreign field. I wish to put emphasis 
on the fact, that the highest scholarship, the truest 
manhood, and deepest consecration, are even more 
essential to success in Montana than in China. A 
man's denomination and cloth count for very lit- 
tle, but the man counts for the degree of his suc- 
cess or failure. If a man can show himself de- 
voted to his calling, free from priestly pretention, 
possessing tact in social relations, with extraordi- 
nary common sense and prudence, free from ecclesi- 
84 



HEROISM IN HOME MISSIONS 

astical mannerisms, with a big heart, with love and 
sympathy for his fellowmen, he will not want for 
temporal support, and the Lord can be trusted to 
supply his spiritual bread. 

Here is a single instance of what western big- 
heartedness can do for their minister in time of 

need. We have a little church in the town of C 

unable to support a regular minister, even with a 
large allowance from the Board of Home Missions. 
A young man of the junior class in the seminary 
came out last year for work during his summer va- 
cation. He won the hearts of all the people of 
every denomination and all classes of society. To- 
wards the close of his vacation period, he was taken 
with appendicitis and had to go to the hospital for 
an operation. It was not a normal case, and he lay 
in the hospital for six weeks. The hearts of the 
people were moved with compassion, and such a 
compassion that expressed itself in raising money 
enough, extra and above his salary, to pay all his 
hospital expenses, a special nurse and the doctor's 
bill, all of which made an account of no small pro- 
portion. The people of the town did not have to 
be solicited, after they knew who the solicitor was; 
they came with their money without asking and 
with that good will which betokens the generous 
spirit of the West. The young brother came 
among them an absolute stranger three months be- 
fore, but it was long enough for him to win the re- 
85 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

spect, esteem and affection of nearly every house- 
hold. When I visited the brother and stayed with 
him three days, he was so overjoyed in the kindness 
of the people, that he called it a rich compensation 
for his affliction. 

Yes, there is heroism in such work. There are 
large compensations of which the world knows not, 
and never can know, because the secrets of the Lord 
are for those who love Him. 

There is also heroism in doing the work the vast 
majority refuse to do, but which must be done by 
some one. To choose the work that others refuse 
is heroic. The home missionary work must be 
done, and those who are willing to put every energy 
of mind and heart under draft for the Master's 
use, in fields that go begging for harvesters, pos- 
sess qualifications of which heroes are made and 
which insure success. If the fields are not ripe for 
the harvest, they are fallow for the sowing, and 
this is the kind of work that should appeal to the 
heroic in the soldier of Jesus Christ. To irrigate a 
Sahara from the fountains of the unseen, with the 
expectation that another generation will reap the 
prolific harvest, requires faith of a very high order. 

When this heroic element is discovered to be an 
essential part, and made as prominent as it has been 
in foreign work, may we not hope and believe that 
strong men will recognize at home as clear a chance 
and as big opportunity and as loud a call for the 
86 



HEROISM IN HOME MISSIONS 

Sky Pilot to display courage and serve the Master, 
in the pure ozone and health giving atmosphere of 
the Rockies, as in the fever stricken jungles of 
Africa, or on " India's coral strand." 

Thomas Hastings must have had this land in 
vision when he wrote, 

"Lo, in the desert rich flowers are springing, 
Streams ever copious are gliding along; 
Loud from the mountain-tops echoes are ringing, 
Wastes rise in verdure, and mingle in song." 

Also when William Cullen Bryant sung as early in 
our history as 1859, the inspiring prayer to the God 
of mercy and might, for the people benighted, who 
dwell in the land of light. 

"In peopled vale, in lonely glen, 
In crowded mart by stream or sea, 
How many of the sons of men 
Hear not the message sent from Thee. 

"Send them Thy mighty word to speak, 
Till faith shall dawn and doubt depart, 
To awe the bold, to stay the weak, 
And bind and heal the broken heart. 

"Then all these wastes, a dreary scene, 
On which with sorrowing eyes we gaze, 
Shall glow with living waters green, 
And lift to heaven the voice of praise." 

As far as America has been won for Christ, the 
home missionary has played a conspicuous part, and 
exhibited heroic fortitude. He has everywhere 
87 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

followed the tides of emigration westward, preach- 
ing the Gospel, planting churches, and laying foun- 
dations on which great structures were built in later 
years. Beginning with the work of John Eliot and 
David Brainard among the Indians, there has been 
ever since those who emulated their devotion and 
heroic zeal. 

We cannot tell how much the great succession of 
missionaries since Eliot's time have had to do with 
America's prestige and power, but we may safely 
assert that their influence has played a much larger 
part, than will ever be credited them in history. 
The work of the home missionary, though unap- 
preciated and unnoticed, has acted like leaven among 
the unseen forces, which produce well-ordered and 
industrial communities. The writer has personal 
knowledge of how many of them have denied them- 
selves the comforts of home and endured hardness 
as good soldiers of the Cross, without murmurings 
or complaints, counting all sacrifice as incompar- 
able with the joy of seeing the forces of righteous- 
ness prevail and their Master's kingdom extended. 
When Marcus Whitman said, " My death may do 
as much for Oregon as my life can," he expressed 
the spirit that animated the heroic achievements of 
many missionaries who have followed his trail 
across the continent. 

A striking illustration is found in the forty years' 
work of Rev. Stephen Riggs among the Dakotas. 
88 



HEROISM IN HOME MISSIONS 

He and his wife left their home in the eastern state 
as early as 1837, having for their destination Fort 
Snelling, then a far outpost at the junction of the 
Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, near the laugh- 
ing waters of Minnehaha, made famous by Long- 
fellow's Hiawatha. His " melodious repetitions " 
contributes a beautiful poem to literature, by weav- 
ing legends and traditions into a song of pure ro- 
mance, but he hides Indian squalor and cruelty 
under the cover of rhythmic verse, largely the 
product of vivid imagination. At least these first 
missionaries discovered that the " land of the Da- 
kotas " where the falls of Minnehaha " dash their 
spray," was a hostile land for the white man, 
though he came with the message of love and peace. 
The record of their hardships is more than we can 
believe possible for man to endure, but through 
Christ who strengthened them great things were ac- 
complished. A chapter in the " Romance of Mis- 
sions " sums up the achievements of these heroic 
servants as follows, — " Through all his years of 
toil and peril, often with no better study than a 
room which served at the same time for kitchen, 
bedroom and nursery, and no better desk than the 
lid of a meal barrel, he had carried on laborious 
researches into the language of the Indians, which 
resulted at last in his Dakota Grammar and Dakota 
Dictionary and brought him the well earned degrees 
of D.D. and LL.D. But his highest honours were 
89 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

written not in the records of universities, but in the 
changed lives of the Dakota people. In his old 
age looking back over forty years of service, he 
could trace a wonderful change between " then and 
now." 

" In 1837, when he came to the far West, he was 
surrounded by the whole Sioux nation in a life of 
ignorance and barbarism. In 1877, the majority 
of the Sioux had become both civilized and chris- 
tianized. Then, in the gloaming his young wife 
and he had seen the dusky forms of Indian warriors 
flitting past on their errand of blood. Now, the 
same race was represented not only by sincere be- 
lievers, but by native pastors in churches and native 
teachers in the schools. On the same prairies 
where the war whoop of the savage had once been 
the most familiar sound, the voice of praise and 
prayer might be heard to rise with each returning 
Day of Rest, from Indian cabins, as well as Indian 
sanctuaries." 

What great things the Lord hath wrought in 
these seventy years? Now, the territory, once 
scenes of tribal war and bloodshed, of squalor and 
cruelty, has become the centre of the busy religious 
and commercial life of the Northwest. 

This is only one record of many not yet written 

and perhaps never will be written, of those who 

have carried the banner of the Cross with the tide 

of advancing civilization through the years, until 

90 



HEROISM IN HOME MISSIONS 

now the high tide has swept over the Rockies and 
Cascades, establishing all along the pathway, not 
only civilization, but christianization of its people. 
Among missionary lives which are of more recent 
date, there are many not less thrilling than the inci- 
dents already cited. Such as that of Dr. Sheldon 
Jackson, of whom Dr. Charles L. Thompson said, 
" Not only the Apostle of the Rocky Mountains, 
but also of the Mississippi Valley where he began 
his westward march fifty years ago, and of Alaska, 
to whose regeneration his latest labours were given. 
His fame is not that he was Commissioner of Edu- 
cation for Alaska, nor that he was Moderator of 
the General Assembly. But only this — he was a 
home missionary, of such enthusiasm and consecra- 
tion, that hundreds of churches are his monuments. 
Towns and territories around us had not been what 
they are, but for the labours of this man of God. 
The Home Board desires to lay on that new grave 
this leaf of loving appreciation of the dauntless 
courage, the unselfish devotion and statesmanlike 
vision of him who for half a century bore its com- 
mission, and in every throb of his great heart hon- 
oured its service." 

The name of Thomas C. Kirk wood, who for 
twenty-five years was Synodical Superintendent of 
Missions in Colorado, deserves a place in the list 
of those loyal servants who gave their all to the 
cause they loved. It will take more than one gen- 
9i 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

eration to realize the blessings his life has trans- 
mitted to future generations. Dr. Timothy Hill 
of the Southwest, Dr. Samuel E. Wishard of Utah 
and Idaho, Dr. A. K. Baird of Montana, who still 
live to cheer others on whom their mantles have 
fallen, are worthy of all honour for the part they 
have acted along the frontier lines. 

There are others as worthy of mention, though 
not as conspicuous in the records of the church, 
who deserve crowns of honour for what they have 
done and are still doing for the upbuilding of Chris- 
tian civilization in these growing empires of the 
West. Some have laid down their lives, a sacrifice 
to the cause they loved, and now wear the martyr's 
crown. " Theirs was no painted sea or painted 
desert." They faced the real thing in hardship. 
" They undertook the real thing in enterprise. They 
illustrated the real thing in heroic unselfishness and 
noble striving for a larger humanity. The pioneer 
is a spirit courageous, who see visions and dream 
dreams. Thirst for the horizon is the measure of 
his appetite. The setting sun is not too far away 
to be included in his picture; nor is heaven so near 
as to cut the nerve of his effort. He sees neither 
hardship nor failure. He has no kinship with the 
pessimist or the ascetic. To him the world is good 
enough to live in — if he lives right; and he falters 
not at the attempt to make it better. To him Op- 
portunity beckons with a perpetual waving; and for 
92 



HEROISM IN HOME MISSIONS 

him the unattained is a perfect Eldorado. The trail 
of the larger future is no Via Doloroso. He is a 
man with a hope that falters not, and with a song 
that cheers the human race. It is by way of the 
trail that he blazes that ' the world sweeps into the 
broader day.' Writing little history, he makes all 
history throb with human interest. In the wake 
of his prairie schooner come the winged chariots 
and palaces of modern travellers. By the side of 
his smouldering camp-fires and overshadowing tents, 
rise the splendid habitations of men and their in- 
dustries; their schools and libraries; their factories 
and furnaces; their temples and shrines, in whose 
sacred walls the civilization that is to be, catches its 
inspiration from the God who is. Their visions 
were not only of this life, but of that which is to 
come. As the altars of faithful Abraham were 
strewn from one end of the land of Promise to the 
other, so the altars of Godly men and women formed 
the corner-stones of our later civilization and reli- 
gion. 

" These flames, lighted afar, were the beacons of 
prodigal feet, that were far from home and peace. 
Great battlefields we have not — the fields ploughed 
with shot and shell and moistened with human life- 
blood. Ours is a history of days, still easily within 
the memory of our generation, of states cradled in 
hearts that are still pulsing with vigour; states 
whose stars in their rising are but the reflected glory 
93 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

of the lives that gave them birth. The Nation lays 
grave responsibility upon the leaders of its armies. 
But what shall we say of the man who, with holy 
egotism, assumed just as grave responsibilities for 
God and Home and Native Land ? The heart must 
speak its own tribute, for human words fail. Like 
our sturdy Scot in the struggle for American In- 
dependence, they risked their lives, their fortunes, 
and their sacred honour. We cannot know the 
cost they paid ; but we can sacredly cherish the boon 
they bought, and hand it down with rich increase, 
to the coming generations of the mountains, the Na- 
tion and the world like the soldiers of the free 
Republic, many have gone to their rest in unknown 
graves. But thank God, they did not fight in vain. 
Their struggles and their tears, their prayers and 
their devotion, are written indelibly on the full 
pages of American progress, and in God's own book 
of remembrances." (Dr. R. M. Donaldson.) 

The Rev. Henry C. McCook, D.D., after men- 
tioning some of our great and devoted missionaries, 
says, " These are some of the men who framed the 
policy of imperial missionary extension, which has 
spread our great church, with all its beneficent acts 
and institutions, from the Atlantic slope to the 
Pacific Coast. Having sublime trust in God and in 
the future, they threw down the gauntlet to the 
seemingly impossible and challenged the religious 
chaos of a continent and claimed it for God. Since 
94 



HEROISM IN HOME MISSIONS 

the times when the Lord's apostles sallied forth, a 
mere squad without money, or rank, or social 
power, to evangelize a hostile world, there have 
been few acts of sublimer faith or loftier Chris- 
tian heroism." 

The Rev. William Bryan, D.D., has also written 
his appreciation of the home missionary, saying 
"If half as much testimony was given to the hero- 
ism of the home missionary, as is given to the hero- 
ism of the foreign missionary, an excellent library 
might be published. People say in a general way 
that the home missionary does not have to live 
among the heathen. How do they know? Have 
they ever tried it? The heathen do not all live in 
Asia and Africa and the isles of the sea. There is 
plenty of favourable soil in both Europe and Ameri- 
ca for cultivating varieties of heathenism; and the 
crop is very large. It grows midst winter frosts 
and summer droughts. Any community that ig- 
nores God, is heathen; and the intentional heathen 
is several shades darker than his unintentional yel- 
low or black brother. Think of a land, with the 
heritage of the Pilgrim Fathers, surrendering its 
heritage for mere sordidness. That is heathenism, 
and unpardonable heathenism at that. Whether 
that community is in Maine, or California, in Mon- 
tana or Florida, it matters not; it is heathendom if 
it votes God out of life. A missionary who goes 
to such people needs the grace of God fully as much 
95 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

as does the man who goes to China, or to Africa, 
as an embassador for the Master. In fact there is 
a great deal more of the poetry of life in going to 
China than to any part of a nominally Christian 
land where religion has been declared to be a need- 
less luxury. 

" Then there is another phase of heroism about the 
genuine home missionary, that is one who travels 
and preaches over a big, needy territory, he is as 
lonely as most of our foreign missionaries. Prob- 
ably he has counted the cost, and is happy in his 
work; but the isolation is no less real. He volun- 
tarily devotes his energies and abilities to trying to 
bring men into personal relationship to the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Plans for study are abandoned in 
the pressure of a life largely made up of journey- 
ings over prairie or mountain side. He never be- 
fore realized what the Master's ' Follow me ' 
meant. He is very likely quite unconscious that he 
is doing anything heroic. His reward will not 
come in this life. But it will come in God's way 
and time." 

If Thomas Carlyle were living, he might add a 
new chapter to his " Hero Worship," and if the 
pulpit ever wears out by much preaching on the 
eleventh chapter of Hebrews, a new roll of heroes 
may be found in the record of our home mission- 
aries. Nor is there any volume on chivalry or 
knight errantry in our libraries that will surpass 
96 



HEROISM IN HOME MISSIONS 

these stories of devotion on the part of home mis- 
sionaries. In his life, heroism is a living, vital 
principle and force. For the most part they live 
in obscurity and sad to say in straitened circum- 
stances as to this world's goods. There are no 
monuments erected to their memory, nor do they 
need any beyond those that now stand to their 
honour. 

The countless churches, the schools and colleges, 
the redeemed communities, these are their monu- 
ments, these the symbols of their reward. 



97 



CHAPTER V 
EVANGELIZING THE REMOTE PLACES 

THE word " evangelism " has become a 
very familiar term in our religious vo- 
cabulary the last few years. It has been 
written in both small and big letters; it has been 
the prologue and the epilogue for many religious 
articles; it has been the salutatory and valedictory 
of many public discourses, and the climax of many 
spiritual orations. It is the fashionable modern 
substitute for the word revival as used in the days 
of Wesley, Whitfield and Finney. 

But when present day evangelism is compared 
with that of Peter and Paul, there are only a few 
things in common. Apostolic evangelism had for 
its field missionary territory. The professional 
evangelist of to-day, however, could not be per- 
suaded by the love of Christ to go elsewhere than 
to churches well organized, where there are set- 
tled pastors to make all conditions ready for his 
convenience, and where a large number of Chris- 
tian people will pledge their prayers weeks ahead 
98 



EVANGELIZING THE REMOTE PLACES 

for his success. There must be engaged for his 
comfort the best accommodations in the best hotel 
with bathroom attachment. A certain amount of 
money must be raised to meet all expenses before 
his meetings begin, ostensibly that no material 
things interfere with the spiritual flow when the 
fountains of the great deep are once opened. Some 
unsanctified minds may be uncharitable enough to 
suggest that the real reason is, that the way may 
be opened for a big freewill offering later when 
enthusiasm is at its highest. This latter sugges- 
tion seems to have ground for its conclusion when 
some of the questions asked by the modern evangel- 
ist are made the basis of judgment. 

It is a little surprising how different evangelists 
put practically the same questions in the preliminary 
arrangements for their coming. How big is your 
city? What is the membership of the churches? 
Has there been a recent revival? Can you secure 
a good financial committee? Are all the churches 
united? etc. Missionary territory cannot answer 
any of these questions in the affirmative. The an- 
swers touching the money questions will be any- 
thing but encouraging. The professional evangelist 
has no call from the Lord to other fields than those 
of big population and large church membership, 
sufficiently large to insure big congregations, big 
contributions and many other big things too nu- 
merous to mention. 

99 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

On strictly missionary territory there are no 
organized churches with large membership, fre- 
quently no pastors, no finance committee, no pray- 
ing bands of Christians to prepare the way. 
Modern Philips are not called to the wilderness to 
save an occasional Ethiopian. The preacher who 
goes out into these untilled fields has no heralds 
to go before proclaiming his great powers in win- 
ning souls, no flaming announcements of the hun- 
dreds converted in the previous cities so fortunate 
as to have secured his valuable services. No, the 
conditions are far otherwise, at least out here in 
the mountain states. 

The home missionary goes into the town un- 
heralded. There is no church building. There 
has not been a prayer-meeting and probably no re- 
ligious service of any kind for six months and 
perhaps longer. There is no meeting place to be 
found except a dance hall or a school house. He 
must secure his hall or school house by first ob- 
taining the consent of the trustees. He must 
personally visit every family in town and neigh- 
borhood to announce the meetings, for there are 
no newspapers to announce his coming. He must 
kindle his own fires and collect some lamps to light 
the building. When meeting time comes he must 
conduct his own singing, play the organ if there hap- 
pens to be one; in other words, he must be choir, 
organist, preacher and janitor, leading the music 



EVANGELIZING THE REMOTE PLACES 

for a people who have not attended religious service 
for so long that even the most familiar songs are 
unfamiliar. 

His congregation may consist of ten, twenty, 
thirty, rarely fifty people. Some of them were 
Christians before they came West, but through long 
deprivation of religious service, they are probably 
as near heathen as those who were born and reared 
under nature's tuition. Perhaps there will be one 
or two who have not lost their faith in crossing the 
Mississippi, and in them the preacher will find a 
sympathetic response to his efforts. 

His mission is largely to deal with raw material. 
Results will be like those the apostles experienced 
in the towns where the Gospel was first preached, 
a few believe, a few scoff", and the majority will be 
indifferent. 

The " free will offering " probably pays for the 
fuel. In a good many cases it will cover the hotel 
bill, not big enough to justify private bath, for such 
a luxury is not thought of in country hotels. Most 
of them however do furnish undesirable compan- 
ions, who do not sleep at night and do their level 
best in keeping the guests from sleeping, and gen- 
erally succeed. 

Very seldom are travelling expenses met in this 
kind of evangelistic work. A few believers will be 
gathered into the kingdom and a society or church 
may be organized with small membership. The 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

day of small things is not to be despised, for this 
humble beginning may in a few years grow into 
a self-supporting church. The harvest will come 
only after patient nurturing and fostering infantine 
growth. The work is breaking up fallow ground, 
shaping raw material, digging stones from the 
quarry, cutting timber from the forest, and fitting 
it all into a spiritual house through patient endeav- 
our, heroic endurance and steadfast faith. 

This is a typical case of evangelism on home 
missionary territory. This kind of work is made 
possible through the Board of Home Missions, as- 
sisting the superintendent, the pastor evangelist, 
and an itinerant ministry. It is a work that cannot 
be reported by statistics, by so many churches or- 
ganized, or number of conversions. It is simply 
blazing the trail for a future civilization and a fu- 
ture church. This kind of work is thought by 
many too commonplace for a man of brains and 
scholarship, who is capable of doing bigger work 
in big cities, with big congregations, with all the 
modern equipments furnished to satisfy an esthetic 
Christianity. Strange to say, bigness plays a very 
important part in the Lord's call as men usually 
interpret it. There are nevertheless immediate re- 
sults that bring inspiring and encouraging recom- 
pense. 

An illustration will indicate the type of rewards 
which follow such efforts. In a little village of 
102 



EVANGELIZING THE REMOTE PLACES 

about one hundred inhabitants, the writer was 
called recently to conduct a series of meetings. 
There had not been previous to this time any reli- 
gious service for more than two years. There was 
no organized church. Meetings were held for a 
week without any visible results. The attendance 
was small and interest less. A spirit of general in- 
difference prevailed in the community. At the 
closing meeting, however, there was one remarkable 
conversion. I was making a last plea for confes- 
sion of Christ, when to my surprise, a roughly 
dressed young man of about thirty years of age 
came forward and announced his desire to be a 
Christian. He had been a cow-puncher for several 
years. He had a wife and three small children. 
They were reduced to a state of poverty and want 
through the husband's intemperate habits. His 
wages, which he earned in the interval of his peri- 
odical debauches, were wasted at the bar or the 
gambling table. These generally occurred after 
each pay day. After prayer and conversation with 
him, he made a public confession of his sins and 
faith in Christ, promising henceforth to lead a new 
life. He sat down by the table and signed a tem- 
perance pledge. While doing so his wife came for- 
ward, with a babe in her arms. She placed the 
sleeping child in my arms and threw hers around 
her husband's neck and both wept tears of joy. 
There was scarcely a dry eye in the house, so im- 
103 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

pressive was the scene. This was the only 
conversion I knew of during that series of meet- 
ings. Afterwards I baptised the whole family, 
following the custom of the Apostle Paul, when the 
Philippian jailer was converted " he and his house- 
hold were baptised the same hour of the night." 
Six months later I spent a Sabbath in this same 
town, when I received and baptised another family 
of eight, and with this small beginning organized 
a church of the few believers in that town, the cow- 
puncher and his family being among the number. 
Two years later there were thirty-eight members 
enrolled and three years later it was my pleasure 
to assist in the dedication of a new church building 
costing $4,000, and paid for mostly by the people 
of that town and neighbourhood. It is to this day 
the only church within one hundred miles east, sixty- 
six miles south and fifteen miles in other directions. 
There is also a flourishing Sabbath school and the 
whole community has been elevated morally; there 
is a marked change for the better among the citi- 
zens, who were at first absolutely indifferent, if not 
antagonistic to the church. One of the two elders 
had been a pronounced unbeliever before his con- 
version, but is now a devoted servant of the Master 
he once ridiculed. Both by practice and precept he 
is giving testimony in that community to the saving 
power of his Lord and Saviour. 

When I made my monthly report to the Board 
104 



EVANGELIZING THE REMOTE PLACES 

of Home Missions, after the first series of meet- 
ings in that town, I reported only one conversion. 
How small and insignificant the results seemed on 
reading that report, yet as after fruits showed and 
as seen in the light of after years, how far reaching 
were those efforts at first so manifestly barren in 
results. The harvest to be gathered in future 
years cannot be measured; God only knows. But 
leaving out of account after fruits, the one conver- 
sion of a cow-puncher was worth all the effort 
put forth and a sufficient reward in itself beyond 
any possible compensation in dollars and cents. 
The conversion of such a man, his restoration to 
his family, as a new husband and father, saved from 
a life of dissipation, signifies a good deal more than 
the reception into the church of children of reli- 
gious homes, who have been counted as born in 
Zion, whose lives have never been blighted by ex- 
cessive sin, and whose public confession is little 
more than a formal assent to the baptismal vows 
of their parents. 

It is not always the number of converts as 
counted by newspaper reports in measuring the 
number of converts in big revival meetings, that 
bring forth the sweetest music from the angelic 
choir where we are told there is rejoicing over one 
sinner that repenteth and turneth from his evil 
ways. It is the prodigal's return for whom the 
feast is prepared in the Father's house, because he 
105 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

was dead, and is alive. In one sense any saved 
soul is worth just as much as another, but there 
is a sense in which some are worth more than 
others, because of what they are saved from, and 
what they are saved for in the Master's service. 

The secret of apostolic success in evangelism 
was the love of Christ (not the love of money) con- 
straining them. The sensational methods of some 
evangelists are condoned by pointing to the num- 
ber of conversions reported, with childlike trust in 
the accuracy of press agents' reports. Let us not 
think of pronouncing wholesale condemnation on 
all modern evangelists who are professionally such, 
for many of them are highly to be commended as 
consecrated workers and helpers in saving the lost 
and the outcast of society, whom ordinary meth- 
ods fail to reach. But I am not hasty in my judg- 
ment, nor do I deem myself uncharitable in 
affirming that newspaper reports do not always tally 
with the record of the recording angel who writes 
the names in the Lamb's Book of Life; however 
that may be, it should be plain enough, that no one 
is justified in prostituting the sacred work of evan- 
gelism to vaudeville methods, whatever the re- 
ported results may be. 

The true language of evangelism must ever be 

the language of love, if it is to bear the test of 

divine approval. The Holy Spirit, when moving 

in the hearts of men, produces a sensation, now as 

106 



EVANGELIZING THE REMOTE PLACES 

well as on the day of Pentecost, but the symbol of 
His power was from above, not from below. 
While I firmly believe in producing religious sensa- 
tions, the methods employed by some are, to say 
the least, questionable. 

The important thing as indicated by our Lord 
in His question to Peter, when giving him his 
great commission, was, " Lovest thou Me ? " This 
He taught as the great essential for success in a 
loyal and faithful witness of the Gospel. It was 
not a question of theology, of science, nor of the 
head, but one of the heart. Christ's own ministry, 
as we all know, was a ministry of love. Love was 
the point of contact between Christ and His dis- 
ciples two thousand years ago, and it has been ever 
since and will continue to be till the end of time. 
Christ said, "If ye love Me, ye will keep My com- 
mandments." There were no needs so great, no 
suffering so intense, no cry so inaudible, but He 
supplied, relieved and heard. Christ had the gift 
of a perennial spring, always giving out, but in- 
capable of exhaustion. " My life I give unto 
you." 

Paul uttered one of the most divine prayers 
ever sent to the throne of grace, when he cried out 
in the longing of his soul's desire, saying, " That 
I may know Him, and the power of His resurrec- 
tion and the fellowship of His suffering." He was 
ready to share the fellowship of His suffering to 
107 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

share His glory. Belief is more than notional, it 
is actional. It is more than creedal, it is vital. 
What does it profit a man if he gains a telescope 
and lose his sight; or what does it profit a man. to 
have faith if not moved with compassion for the 
lost. Herein is the substance of Christian living 
and the evidence of Christian faith. " By their 
fruits ye shall know them." It is doing, not say- 
ing, or listening, or looking, but being moved with 
compassion to beneficent action. 

At West Point, some one asked. "What is 
Christianity ? " The answer was, " Oscar West- 
over." When we can so live our daily life so near 
like Christ, that we may define Christianity, then we 
shall have reached the ideal life. 

Christ, in all His preaching made the secret of 
righteousness, the secret of love. For this there 
can be no substitute. This makes His Gospel a re- 
ligion that reaches down to earth and brings it into 
practical relation to the needs of this mortal life. 
It is not so ethereal as to be out of reach, nor so 
incomprehensible as to be impractical. 

In the matchless poem of " Building the Ship," 
our own poet has beautifully expressed heart power 
in action, saying, 

"Ah: how skillful grows the hand, 
That obeyeth love's command ; 
'Tis the heart and not the head, 
That to the highest doth attain. 
1 08 



EVANGELIZING THE REMOTE PLACES 

And he who obeyeth love's behest, 
Far excelleth all the rest." 

Virgil's Ascestes aimed at the stars, and though 
he had strength and skill, the shot was thrown 
away. His arrow was followed by a track of daz- 
zling radiance, but it struck nothing, failing to 
reach the mark. " If I speak with the tongues of 
men and of angels, but have not love, I am become 
sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal." 

Macaulay, in his essay describing ancient philoso- 
phies as impracticable except for a few select 
scholars, men of brains and leisure, compares it 
with Bacon's philosophy, which brought science 
down to common people, into the workshop, and the 
ordinary things of life, where the vast majority of 
mankind live, and affirms that " an acre of earth 
is worth more than an empire in Utopia." The 
smallest actual good being better than the most 
magnificent promises of impossibilities. 

It is the practical feature of the Gospel of Christ 
that has made it the bond of charity, the curb of 
evil passions, the consolation of the wretched, the 
support of the timid, and the hope of the dying. 
It teaches a love that dulls defects in its object. 
Christ loved Peter for his virtues and forgot his 
defects in his vision of future good. If, in any 
place this spirit of evangelism is needed, it certainly 
is in these remote places of the West, where Chris- 
tian service is measured by its worth, and not by 
109 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

the theology preached or the garb of the minister. 
Here above all other places men are quick to rec- 
ognize priestly ism, and just as ready to appreciate 
a man for his virtues. Here, the mourners — 
bench style of religion is not popular or effective 
— are a matter-of-fact people, who do not try 
to cover their faults, and want their preacher to 
strike out straight from the shoulder, to speak the 
truth without equivocation, evasion or apology. 
They detect shams as quickly as a trout an artificial 
fly. When they are moved to confession it is with 
boldness and straight- forwardness that guarantees 
sincerity. 

The sensational revivalist will be far more suc- 
cessful in an eastern city, than in one of these re- 
mote towns along the foothills of the Rockies. 
The theory that justifies questionable methods, be- 
cause of immediate and visible results, will not 
stand the test among these people. Emotionalism 
is not despised, but it is not valued very highly as 
a spiritual asset. The Apostolic Church only wit- 
nessed one Pentecost. After that, Peter and Paul 
had meagre results to report, except persecutions 
and opposition, wherever they went. Yet some be- 
lieved in almost every city. They had immediate 
fruit in a few converts. So has the evangelist in 
these remote places and small towns in the West. 
The invisible results count for more, perhaps, than 
no 



EVANGELIZING THE REMOTE PLACES 

the number of converts. The apostles projected 
their influence into the centuries. The more spir- 
itual a man's efforts, the more truly is he con- 
strained by the love of Christ, the more he is filled 
with the Holy Spirit, the less he will rely on ap- 
parent and immediate results as an essential sign 
of the divine approval, or make a display of nu- 
merical success an evidence of his being the servant 
of God. 

These truths need to be emphasized for the en- 
couragement of the evangelist on home missionary 
territory, and to inspire confidence in contributors 
to home missions. The pastor-evangelist is in dan- 
ger of being unduly cast down when results show 
so small, in comparison with the widely advertised 
triumphs of evangelists in large cities. The con- 
tributor on the other hand, when he reads of meagre 
effects and small ingatherings from evangelism on 
home missionary territory, and compares these with 
the large number of conversions reported from spe- 
cial evangelistic endeavour in the cities, may be 
tempted to conclude that the latter sort of work is 
more worthy of his benevolence. 

Nevertheless, the pastor-evangelist on home mis- 
sionary territory has real reward in a proportion- 
ate number of conversions, and especially in the 
inspiring thought that he is blazing the trail for 
the future triumph of the church of God in a wil- 
iii 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

derness that is one day to blossom as the rose, and 
bear fruitage in bringing the nation under the 
sovereignty of the Cross. 

The Rev. S. Parker Cadman said in a recent pub- 
lic address that " The missionary fields cannot be 
conquered by the unaided teacher. The missionary 
must have more than a system of truth, more than 
a program, more than a reasonable discourse. The 
life which was given for the life of men, the di- 
vinest gift of all, is alone sufficient for this regen- 
eration." Before we can dismiss the black apathy 
which rests on so many professedly Christian com- 
munities, before we can dominate the social struc- 
ture in righteousness and justice, the church must 
be raised nearer to the standard of New Testament 
efficiency, which rested upon the Divinity and per- 
suasive Mediatorship of Christ and Him crucified. 
It embraces the height of good, the depth of love, 
the breadth of sympathy, and the width of catholic- 
ity. When messengers of the cross are imbued 
with such a spirit, " enthusiasm cannot be soured, 
nor courage diminished." 

The culture of the missionary must have the 
" passion-flower of Jesus Christ " as the para- 
mount trait. Technicalities, niceties, knowledge 
remote and knowledge general, must be appropri- 
ated and made dynamic in this life and death con- 
flict. 



EVANGELIZING THE REMOTE PLACES 

Quoting again from the same address, " Let us 
redeem our creeds at the front, and prove the weld- 
ing of our weapons and their tempered blades upon 
every evil way, darkness and superstition that af- 
flicts humanity." 

From the above suggestions, the following con- 
clusions are emphasized. 

First, That the Church has a serious problem to 
solve in the evangelization of remote places and 
isolated communities. The country church must 
not be thought of as obsolete. Special evangelistic 
efforts in large cities are essential. Out of the 
great centres of congested and mixed population, 
go influences, potent and far-reaching, in purifying 
or poisoning the atmosphere in remote sections of 
the country But it must not be forgotten that the 
influential personalities that are most prominent in 
our great cities, were born in the country. As 
the soil is the source of all wealth, so from the 
healthful exercise, pure ozone, educational forces 
and social relations of country life, are the impulses 
and vigorous virtues nurtured, which attain great re- 
sults in business and professional careers in the 
larger spheres of human activity and usefulness. 
The city bred people sit in pews and listen to the 
preaching of the divine who was in early life a 
country lad. The chairs of instruction in our uni- 
versities, the seats of judgment in our highest 
ii3 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

courts, are occupied mostly by men who have learned 
their first lessons of achievement in village and coun- 
try. 

Hence the importance of the rural church. Here 
in the West, the difficulty of the problem is in- 
creased on account of the sparsely settled communi- 
ties. Farms are big and homes widely separated, 
so that within a radius of ten miles, it is difficult 
to gather a sufficient number to sustain Sunday- 
schools and church organizations. 

Being chairman of Committee on Survey of Re- 
ligious Conditions — Strategic Western States, un- 
der the direction of the Home Missions Council and 
Federation of Evangelical Churches, reports are 
already coming in from different parts of the state. 
These reports reveal many large districts with 
small population and few children, without any 
Sunday-school or church organization. The follow- 
ing selections are not made from extreme or un- 
common cases: 



School District 


Sq. Miles 


Population 


Children 


Report No. I.. 


20 


77 


26 


Report No. 2.. 


• 56 


80 


19 


Report No. 3 . . 


20 


100 


25 


Report No. 4.. 


18 


125 


43 



These are not rare but common examples. The 
final census and summing up of results will reveal 
hundreds of school districts similar to the above. 
These are cited to show the difficulty in reaching 
114 



EVANGELIZING THE REMOTE PLACES 

such large districts so sparsely settled, with 
adequate Gospel privileges. None of the above 
mentioned have either Sabbath-school or church 
organization. 

It increases the difficulty of the missionary, who 
must necessarily have several districts under his 
charge, to centralize effort. As population increases 
and farm land becomes more valuable, these hin- 
drances will diminish and rural evangelization will 
become less expensive and more efficient. 

Second. There should be a higher conception 
of the mission of the local church; for after all 
that may be said in behalf of special evangelistic 
effort, the local church must realize its own respon- 
sibility in the evangelization of its own vicinity. It 
is to be regretted that many churches, influenced no 
doubt by the evangelistic tendencies of the times, 
depend almost entirely upon the professional evan- 
gelist and general movements for the winning of 
souls, rather than upon the regular work of the 
settled minister and the ordinary services of conse- 
crated church members. Under such prevailing 
sentiment, church work becomes spasmodic and the 
preaching of the settled minister educational, in- 
stead of evangelistic. 

Third. A more evangelistic ministry is greatly 
needed. This means men, serving the Lord with 
the whole heart, impressed with the infinite prac- 
tical reach of their work, their responsibility as 
"5 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

messengers of the truth which is the saving power 
of men being lost. In the West, perhaps the su- 
preme temptation on the part of country ministers, 
is to become a homesteader, under the inducement 
that by this means he can obtain a worldly posses- 
sion with so little effort as not to interfere with his 
duties as a minister. Results generally prove the 
contrary. Only he attains the expected and desir- 
able efficiency who gives his time, talent and energy 
to his divine calling. 

Perhaps this is the supreme suggestion of the 
whole subject. Any man called of God to the 
ministry should realize that such a responsible and 
so divine a calling demands all the energy and tal- 
ents with which he is entrusted. Men devoted to 
the Master's cause, which means the highest inter- 
ests of the people, are honoured as such and achieve 
success in winning souls. 



116 



CHAPTER VI 
ARE WESTERN TOWNS O VERCHURCHED ? 

AN eastern man in his hurried trip on a trans- 
continental railroad, looked out through 
the window of his palace car, and saw a 
number of church buildings in a small town. He 
at once made use of this superficial knowledge and 
hasty conclusion, by writing an article for one of 
his church papers, declaring that he had been on a 
tour through the West, and everywhere he saw 
too many churches for the population, and kindly 
hinted that the money contributed by eastern peo- 
ple might be spent to better advantage at home. 

From his viewpoint, perhaps he was justified in 
his conclusion, but he was not justified in reaching 
any conclusion from such a limited and narrow 
view. Further investigation would no doubt re- 
veal a different state of things. Some of these 
churches which he saw from his palace car window, 
represented a foreign-speaking people. 

Let it be clearly understood that the evangeliza- 
tion of foreigners is largely a problem of eastern 
cities. Out here on the western plains and among 
117 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

the mountains, the foreigners are more generally 
evangelized than the natives. 

For example, in a certain city of about twelve 
thousand people, the traveller, as he passes through 
on the cars, can count five churches where the Gos- 
pel is preached in a foreign tongue. About fifteen 
per cent, of that city are Norwegian and Swede. 
They have five churches, while the English-speak- 
ing Protestant churches number ten, or four-fifths 
of the population. So with one-fifth of the people, 
the foreigners have half as many churches. 
Where their money comes from to build so many 
churches and support their ministers, the writer is 
not prepared to say. Their membership is very 
small and composed almost exclusively of the la- 
bouring class, which I mention not as any reproach. 
I had a servant in my house for three years, who 
was a loyal member of one of these churches, and 
one of ten, all servants in various homes, com- 
posing the membership and support of said church. 
Their minister, however, had five other similar 
charges in other towns, so that he was not depend- 
ent on this small membership for his entire support. 
These churches are extremely exclusive. They do 
not pretend to do any work except among their own 
people. Their services are all conducted in a for- 
eign tongue. Therefore while their sphere of use- 
fulness is very limited, they represent several distinc- 
tive denominations of the Lutheran faith, and thus 
118 



ARE WESTERN TOWNS OVERCHURCHED? 

give the impression to the passerby of overchurched 
towns. The building and supporting of these 
churches are outside the authority, control and sup- 
port of the English Protestant population. 

The multiplicity of said churches does not re- 
lieve us of the responsibility of establishing and 
sustaining English-speaking churches, although in 
doing so it may give the superficial observer the 
appearance of an overchurched town. Inasmuch 
as the West is largely dependent on the East for 
means of church extension, it is very proper to 
inquire whether gifts to Home Missions are wisely 
and judiciously distributed. Speaking of Montana 
(for I can speak of this state from personal knowl- 
edge) the towns as a rule are not overchurched. 
There may be a few exceptions, but the exceptions 
are more likely to be found in the larger cities 
than in small towns. In cities of over five thou- 
sand population there are generally too many 
churches for the number of people who attend 
them. This is even more true of eastern than 
western cities. In small towns in the West, this 
overgrowth of churches is the rare exception. 
There are some overzealous sectarians and super- 
intendents of missions representing various denomi- 
nations, who are over anxious to organize churches, 
for the sake of making a record which looks big 
in reports, but in reality is no index of the good 
being done. When we succeed in gathering a few 
119 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

believers together and organize them into a church 
where no other church exists, we feel that some- 
thing has been done which was actually needed, but 
if such work is done where there is already an 
evangelical church, it is only entering into com- 
petition with other Christian workers and not add- 
ing any special force in the Christianizing a com- 
munity. 

Some of the leading denominations have an un- 
written law which in most cases has been quite 
effectual in preventing unnecessary organizations. 
This comity is generally respected among Eng- 
lish-speaking denominations, and especially between 
Congregational and Presbyterian churches. There 
is not a city or town in the state of Montana to my 
knowledge, of less than five thousand people, where 
there can be found both Congregational and Pres- 
byterian churches. There may be some friendly 
rivalry between us in entering new towns, as to 
which has the prior right, but this is generally 
conceded to the denomination first beginning regu- 
lar service. At the present time there is so much 
for us all to do and so many new towns springing 
up, that there is plenty of opportunity for us all 
without any unfriendly competition. 

The writer has organized eight churches in the 
last year, and not one of them where any other 
church existed. Very seldom are there more than 
two English-speaking churches found in towns of 



ARE WESTERN TOWNS OVERCHURCHED? 

less than one thousand people. In towns of more 
than one thousand population our experience has 
been that two churches thrive better than one. 
The cost of supporting two churches in said towns 
is no more than the expense of one, for the reason,, 
that the pastors of these churches generally have 
another charge in an adjoining village and public 
service is held alternately at each place, and so with 
the other minister of another denomination; thus 
the support comes from two churches. By this plan 
which I know to be adopted in many places, one 
town supports one minister, where there are two 
organizations. 

These are facts that ought to be known by con- 
tributors, when appeals are made for missionary 
money. We in the West feel truly grateful for 
large contributions from the East for support of 
our missionary work. We also recognize our re- 
sponsibility in the use and distribution of money 
so freely and generously given. The Board of 
Home Missions also zealously guards said benevo- 
lence, that it be sent and used in places where there 
is actual need. We have instructions from head- 
quarters not to multiply churches, only where there 
is a mission others do not fill. 

There is another side to this question worth con- 
sidering. It arises from the personality of those 
who are most forward in their objections to the 
organization of so many churches. They are not 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

usually the most generous givers and not unfre- 
quently the loudest objections come from those who 
give only mites, if they give at all, for missionary 
work. They seem to see no objection to three 
mercantile companies, where there is a good living 
and reasonable profits for only one. In all these 
new towns, business is much more overdone than 
religion. Ten saloons and one church in their view 
represents the proper balance of power. The busi- 
ness man invests his money, not for the present 
profits assured, but for the future. He anticipates 
growth and in most cases he is not disappointed. 
The same may be said of churches. Few organi- 
zations are justifiable without a vision of the fu- 
ture. If the formal organization is postponed until 
a time when self-support is assured in a new and 
promising town, it would be giving full sway to 
evil influences during the formative period of each 
town's history. Towns are like individuals. Left 
without Christian nurture they are likely to follow 
the flesh and the devil. We put special emphasis 
on Christian nurture of children, and it is right that 
we should ; not to do so would be criminal neglect. 
Childhood is the formative period, which in most 
cases decides destiny. So with towns, if they are 
to be saved, they must be saved from the beginning, 
they must have the saving salt of organized Chris- 
tian endeavour in their behalf. Communities rise 
to the height of their life, and humanity unfolds 

122 



ARE WESTERN TOWNS OVERCHURCHED? 

its dormant capabilities only when religion enters 
into a living and inspiring relation to all the rest of 
human life. 

Our plea then is not for fewer churches, but for 
more. While we should discourage and strongly 
condemn the multiplying of churches prompted by 
sectarian zeal, and while we should hasten the rap- 
idly growing sentiment and spirit that fosters fed- 
eration of all the churches, until that time comes 
when we shall be one in the unity of faith, we 
should the more loyally, devotedly and earnestly 
lift up everywhere at any cost, the standard of the 
Cross, for which every church must stand if it de- 
serves the name of a Christian church. 

While all this may be truthfully said, in answer 
to the question, " Are Western Towns Over- 
churched?" it must be recognised as a source of 
weakness among Protestants, that there are so 
many distinctive denominations, all working for the 
same cause, prompted by the same motives, (differ- 
ing only in non-essentials) in perfect harmony as 
to all cardinal and foundation truths. The organ- 
ized divisions of Christendom present a pitiable 
sight to the unbelieving world, and one which Chris- 
tians have reason to lament. What ever may have 
been their provocation or justification in the past, 
there is no justifiable basis for their existence in the 
present. When bigotry narrowed the way to heaven, 
by teaching that the only entrance was through 
123 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

some particular denominational door, there was 
excuse and some provocation for building fences 
and drawing lines of separation. But these same 
lines and fences then erected, are now an offence 
and disgrace to our enlightened Christianity of the 
twentieth century. Protestant unity is demanded in 
the solution of the present day problems, and espe- 
cially in the working out of the greatest of all prob- 
lems, the world's evangelization. The reflex 
influence of foreign missions has perhaps been more 
powerful than all others, in hastening Christian fed- 
eration throughout the world. 

The great missionary convention and conference 
held in Edinburgh, Scotland, June 15-23, 1910, had 
for its key-note throughout, the necessity and ac- 
tual demand for the united forces of Christendom 
in the forward movement of world-wide evangeli- 
zation. It has been pronounced by many to have 
been the greatest religious conference ever con- 
vened, not only because of its world-wide represen- 
tation, but also for its progressive, optimistic and 
far-reaching influence. 

The composition of the conference itself, in the 
cosmopolitan character of its delegates, when all 
phases of Christian propaganda were presented 
by experts, was an illustration of the spirit of the 
times that is pressing with dynamic energy towards 
Protestant unity. 

A writer in the British Weekly gives his impres- 
124 



ARE WESTERN TOWNS OVERCHURCHED? 

sion of this phase of the Conference. " The won- 
der of the Conference is not in its outlook or 
purpose, for with these we have been familiar now 
for many years. All Christians recognize that 
Christianity is meant for the whole world, and, lat- 
ently at any rate, wish to communicate its truth to 
all. No, the wonder is in the compact, solid, busi- 
nesslike combination of all these varied elements 
into an organism, a brain, a voice, which seems to 
be actually filled with and used by Christ through 
the Holy Spirit. Here all nations and all churches 
(except, alas: the so-called Catholic churches, East- 
ern and Western) sit side by side, with no conscious 
barriers between them. They speak as one, they 
pray as one. In this amazing Assembly, so vast 
that the eye can hardly take it in, so orderly that 
there is no confusion, so harmonious that it might 
have been drilled and prepared beforehand, an 
Anglican Bishop is sitting side by side with a Non- 
conformist minister, a black man is sitting by an 
American pastor, an Anglican monk or nun is sit- 
ting beside a Chinaman in native costume, a Jap- 
anese or Korean, in European dress, with gold 
spectacles, is sitting by an equally civilized Finn or 
German or Dane. All ranks of all nations are 
united; English and Scotch noblemen have seats in 
this house of the Lord; the Archbishops of the 
English Church address these representatives of all 
Protestant churches as brothers. When this As- 
125 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

sembly prays, it is the most overwhelming revela- 
tion of spiritual power I ever witnessed. It is an 
intercessor for the world." 

Missionary workers on both home and foreign 
fields come in contact with and therefore recognize 
the evils of sectarianism in a way, that those who 
labour in old settled communities and long estab- 
lished churches, cannot easily comprehend. Out 
here on the firing line of the Western Frontier, in 
sparsely settled communities and small villages, 
with a great extent of uninhabited territory be- 
tween, there is a community of feeling and a social 
relation which looks upon religious sectarianism 
as worthy only of condemnation and unworthy sup- 
port. 

There is a fashion in ideas as in styles, and at 
present the fashionable idea is Christian unity. 
There is scarcely an organ of public opinion that 
does not applaud the project of a truce in religions. 
The scandal of disunion among Christians effects 
deeply large numbers of persons to whom Chris- 
tianity, under ordinary circumstances, is not in- 
debted. Old points of controversy between the 
churches are pronounced dead issues, and the con- 
troversial temper has died with them. Nothing is 
wanted but a little of goodwill to triumph over triv- 
ial misunderstandings, and now is the auspicious 
hour. Public opinion is on the side of union, and, 
indeed is so strongly on its side that it will not 
126 



ARE WESTERN TOWNS OVERCHURCHED? 

tolerate with patience and grace any ecclesiastical 
action that is not willing to sacrifice everything to 
this supreme good. 

Organic union may be too radical, but a more 
complete federation is practical. Federation on 
some such plan as that of the Y. M. C. A., Chris- 
tian Endeavour Societies and reform movements 
like the Anti-saloon League, is eminently practical. 
All the above mentioned organizations have been 
almost universally recognized as forces of far-reach- 
ing influence in religious propaganda. 

Dr. Henry Van Dyke has recently written a 
timely article on this subject for the Continent, 
a part of which is here quoted by his permission. 

"What we want first is a closer fellowship, a 
fuller and freer cooperation in work and worship 
among professed followers of Christ; and then a 
removal of the dividing walls, a coming together, 
first of those sister churches which are separated 
for reasons invisible to the naked eye; then of 
those kindred churches whose differences are more 
apparent but still of no vital importance compared 
with their agreements; and finally, it may be of 
the whole family of God, the visible church con- 
sisting of ' all those throughout the world that pro- 
fess the true religion, together with their children.' 

" The fullness of that vision seems a long way off. 
But the first steps that lead toward it are very 
close to us and some of them have already been 
127 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

taken. It must be admitted that they are only 
beginnings, and that their success, as yet, is limited. 
But there is certainly more recognition and coopera- 
tion among Christian churches than there used to 
be, and there will be more yet if we have a real 
revival of religion. The proposed conference of 
churches, ' for frank statement of their differ- 
ences ' is full of hope. It is bold, it is original, 
and if it is done in the right spirit, not with a de- 
sire to exalt differences, but with a willingness to 
yield the non-essentials, it ought to open men's eyes 
to some of the absurdities of the present state of 
things. Lord Macaulay said in India, ' In a coun- 
try where men pray to cows the differences that di- 
vide Christians seem of small account.' We ought 
to see to-day that in a world where evil is rampant 
and idolatry increases, the disputes that separate 
Christians are shameful. 

" What trials and delays must be endured, what 
obstacles and difficulties overcome, what long and 
perilous journey accomplished, before the vision is 
realised, God only knows. It may be that the con- 
flict with evil must grow sharper and more bitter, 
before Christians learn that division means defeat. 
It may be that the shame of forsaken temples, and 
a vanishing Sabbath, and a system of education 
without religion, must grow deeper, to make men 
see the fatal consequences of disunion, rivalry and 
mutual mistrust among the disciples of Christ. 
128 



ARE WESTERN TOWNS OVERCHURCHED? 

It may be that disaster and humiliation and weak- 
ness must befall the Christian forces and they must 
be driven to some dreadful battlefield of Armaged- 
don to make them stand together against the united 
powers of darkness and unbelief. Or it may be 
(and God grant it) that the lesson will be learned 
in brighter paths and slowly spelled in syllables of 
hope. It may be that the success of the Christian 
associations which have made a league of youth to 
girdle earth with the name of Jesus will teach the 
churches something. It may be that the great 
world conference of missions at Edinburgh, which 
gathered men of all creeds and communions to hear 
of the victories of Christ in heathen lands and to 
plan together for wider triumphs, may kindle a joy 
fire in the churches that will burn the barriers away. 
But whether by bright ways or by dark ways, 
whether through suffering or rejoicing, God lead us 
toward the consummation of Christian unity in 
church union, God keep us obedient to the heavenly 
vision. 

" Christendom reunited on the three-essential 
basis, — God, Christ and the Bible — a glorious 
church, adorned as a bride for her husband, fair as 
the moon, clear as the sun, overwhelming as an army 
with banners — oh, how that vision shines and 
glows upon the far horizon, beckoning our hearts 
and hopes. 

" How shall we obey it far away ? How shall we 
129 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

really serve it now, so that our services shall count 
for the glorious future? Three things let us all 
do: 

" i — Be loyal in will and work to that branch of 
the church which we joined to the kingdom of 
Christ and which gives us personally our broadest 
chance to labour for Him. 

"2 — Simplify our faith, clarify our worship, 
open our communions to all who trust Christ, our 
pulpits to all who preach Christ. 

"3 — Bear a hand in every effort that brings 
Christians together, and close every day's work and 
worship with the prayer of brotherhood : ' Grace be 
with all them that love the Lord Jesus Christ in 
sincerity.' " 

Something very practical is also being accom- 
plished along this line in the way of co-operative ad- 
vance in home missionary work, as indicated by a 
recent report of the joint committee, whose object 
is to unite all protestant churches in an effort to 
remove an existing disgrace of overchurched dis- 
tricts and towns. This committee was appointed in 
the spring of 1909, through the Federal Council 
of the Churches of Christ in America. The Fed- 
eral Council was organized by the specific and for- 
mal action of thirty denominations acting as entire 
denominational bodies, composed of over sixteen 
million communicants. The Home Missions 
130 



ARE WESTERN TOWNS OVERCHURCHED? 

Council is a combination of the Home Mission 
Boards and officers of fifteen communions, includ- 
ing nearly all the larger denominations. This joint 
committee consists of forty representative men 
from twenty-one denominational bodies. 

This committee undertook as its first task, to 
make an investigation as to the actual conditions in 
the home mission field, to discover in what degree 
there is overlapping of effort, and to what extent 
home mission territory is neglected by all. As a 
beginning in this direction the committee re- 
quested the Federal Council of Churches to make 
inquiry concerning a single and typical western 
state. The result of this investigation covered the 
entire state of Colorado, county by county and town 
by town, giving the population, area, the post offices, 
the churches, the membership, the current expenses 
of the churches and the amount of home mission 
aid received. The results of this investigation 
made it very plain from general conditions that 
there is occasion for the Home Mission Boards to 
give fresh consideration to this feature of their re- 
sponsibility. This single instance and first effort, 
prompted the National Home Mission Boards and 
Societies of Evangelical Churches in the United 
States of America to undertake a general survey of 
religious conditions in the strategic western states. 
The report and results of this more general survey 
will not be before the public for several months to 
131 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

come. It indicates however a movement in the 
right direction. The purpose of making such a 
survey of religious condition is: 

First — That the officers of Home Mission 
Boards may confer with each other, and arrange to 
allot the entire unoccupied fields among the various 
bodies, so that each shall feel especial responsibility 
for given fields. 

Second — To decline to endorse for home mis- 
sionary aid in places where the Gospel of Christ is 
earnestly and adequately promulgated by others and 
where assured prospects of growth do not seem to 
demand the establishment of other churches. 

This movement so wisely and timely initiated, 
looking towards the federation of Protestant 
churches, indicates hopeful progress in unifying all 
home missionary endeavour, and if put into effectual 
practice (as we sincerely trust it will) will act as a 
source of appeal against the multiplication of un- 
necessary churches in small towns, as well as a 
source of information concerning localities destitute 
of adequate Gospel privileges. 

We have reason to rejoice in the fact that essen- 
tials in religious life and growth are being empha- 
sized, while non-essentials are minimized. Dogma- 
olatry is less respected, and good fruits more hon- 
oured. The surprise is that the churches have been 
so long finding out that their true mission in a world 
of sin, does not consist so much in promulgating a 
132 



ARE WESTERN TOWNS OVERCHURCHED? 

system of doctrine, as it does in establishing a sys- 
tem of works. The unerring test is that " by their 
fruits ye shall know them." 

The denominational divisions in Christendom, 
present a pitiable picture of the oneness for which 
Christ prayed, imploring for His disciples the rich- 
est blessing God could give, " that they may be one, 
even as we are one." We have not advanced far 
enough in the fulfillment of this prayer to consist- 
ently sing Sir Arthur Sullivan's hymn : 

"Like a mighty army, 
Moves the church of God; 
Brothers, we are treading 
Where the saints have trod; 
We are not divided, 
All one body we, 
One in hope and doctrine, 
One in charity." 

There are two kinds of unity: one a unity of law 
or principle, and one a unity of manifestation. 
The unity for which our Saviour prayed, is a one- 
ness of principle, not uniformity in manifestation. 
Uniformity is contrary to all the works of God. 
Unity of principle is everywhere in evidence. Di- 
visions may have been a necessary evil during cer- 
tain periods of growth in the Christian church, but 
these conditions have long since past. The two 
hundred or more denominational divisions in exist- 
ence, cannot be looked upon otherwise than an un- 
speakable injury to the cause of Christ. At the 
133 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

present time we are wrestling with a condition, not 
a theory. Doctrine asserted and adopted by ecclesi- 
astical authority, contrary to that which is the re- 
sult of experience, should not any longer be bind- 
ing on the individual conscience. 

Ox-carts were supplanted by the horse carriage; 
the horse carriage is being supplanted by the auto- 
mobile, and each change affords a quicker method 
to reach the goal. 

In earlier days, schism and secession were justi- 
fied on the ground that error is taught in the church. 
If it be a doctrinal error which does not subvert 
personal faith in Christ, it should not be allowed 
to divide believers into denominational orders. 
Christ is more than doctrine and charity better than 
knowledge. This principle is now uniting a long 
divided church and hastening the federation of be- 
lievers in one grand army of the living God. " He 
that is not with Me is against Me; and he that 
gathereth not with Me, scattereth abroad." 



134 



CHAPTER VII 
REDEMPTION OF THE RED MAN 

WHATEVER may be said for or against the 
Indian, his history is replete with heroic 
achievements and martial deeds. What- 
ever may be said concerning the policies of the 
government in its treatment of the red man, the 
purpose has been altruistic. The greatest mistakes 
have been confessed and corrected. The same may 
be said of Christian Missions. Much has had 
to be learned by experience. Mistakes have been 
many, but in all the annals of Christian Missions, 
home or foreign, the history of Indian work fur- 
nishes most heroic and inspiring records of devo- 
tion and untiring effort 

The history of America records deeds which are 
worthy to be called heroic; that are unparalleled in 
the world's account of great achievements. But, 
amid these resplendent deeds, none deserve greater 
honour than many of the missionaries, both Prot- 
estant and Catholic, who literally gave their lives 
for the redemption of the red man. 
135 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

Prescott said, " every step that the white man 
has taken in the new world has been over the corpse 
of an Indian." But amid the dark shadows of 
human greed and avarice, are the deeds of self- 
sacrificing missionaries, who laboured not for gold, 
but for the love of souls. They were men of un- 
daunted perseverance, who endured hardships and 
dangers, to achieve the redemption of a race, sup- 
planted by a stronger people. Many of these men 
are now sleeping in unmarked graves and without 
epitaphs of praise. 

It is time public impression was corrected, that 
the Indians are a decadent and vanishing people. 
It is true, that they are passing through a transi- 
tional period. Both the church and the government 
must assume the responsibility as to whether this 
transitional period shall terminate in his extinction 
or redemption. 

" America is the great mixing bowl of races, 
wherein by some cosmic alchemy the great ruling 
race of the world is produced. Every racial ele- 
ment that is in the country to-day, or which is com- 
ing into the country to-morrow, is a potential ele- 
ment of the American race of the future." — Arthur 
C. Parker, Assembly Herald, Feb., 19 10. 

This involves the responsibility of state and 
church, as to the education and Christianizing the 
300,000 Indians now looked upon as the wards of 
our nation. 

136 



REDEMPTION OF THE RED MAN 

There is also a common opinion abroad that the 
Indian is a poor and vanishing race. It has long 
been customary for poets to sing the dirge of the 
dying race, and for orators to declare that the In- 
dians are disappearing as the results of wrongs at 
the hands of white men; but whatever may have 
happened to individuals, the Indians as a race are 
farther than ever from extinction. Statisticians of 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Washington say 
that the pioneers and early historians greatly over- 
estimated the number of Indians in the country, and 
that, as a matter of fact there are more now than 
there were when the white man came. Certainly, 
since their actual numeration has been possible, the 
increase in their numbers has been marked. The 
Indian population grew from two hundred and 
forty-eight thousand in 1890, to three hundred and 
five thousand in 19 10. 

In spite of popular opinion to the contrary, the 
Indians, moreover, are not poor; they form in fact, 
one of the wealthiest races in the world. In landed 
property and in cash the Jhree hundred and five 
thousand Indians possess six hundred million dol- 
lars, a per capita wealth of about two thousand dol- 
lars, or more than twice the per capita wealth of 
white Americans. The government now holds 
approximately thirty-seven million dollars in trust 
for the various Indian tribes, most of which bears 
interest at from three to five per cent., yielding an 
137 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

annual income of about one million and eight hun- 
dred thousand dollars. Although the red man was 
the victim of much unscrupulous treatment in early 
years, the government has been most generous in 
atonement, and in seeking earnestly and honestly to 
solve the problems connected with his welfare. 

The wild Indian surely will pass away. He must 
either level up to civilisation or level down to ex- 
tinction. When that comes to pass, there will be 
no Indian problem. But will this ever come to 
pass? We answer in the affirmative, if the pure 
blooded aboriginal type is meant. This type is fast 
disappearing. 

Ethnologists affirm that at the time of the dis- 
covery of this continent, there were 300,000 In- 
dians occupying the territory now comprising the 
area of the United States, not including Alaska. 
Whether this estimate be correct or not we are not 
prepared to say. The present population is not 
half so large, and a very great majority of these 
are half-breeds, many seven-eighths white. Along 
the northwestern border of New York to the Rock- 
ies, the mixed bloods are more common than the 
aboriginal type. Amalgamation is their ultimate 
destiny, not extinction. The nation's wards are to 
become independent, self-supporting and intelligent 
citizens. 

All government assistance and missionary effort 
should be given and rendered with this as an ulti- 
138 



REDEMPTION OF THE RED MAN 

matum. Whatever might have been the wisdom of 
the reservation policy as a beginning, as a step to 
something better, its folly has been acknowledged 
and is rapidly being corrected. By this mistaken 
policy the Indian's descent from the independence of 
his original condition to mendicancy and pauperism 
was made sure. If there is any truth in the criti- 
cism that the red man has stood still or retrograded 
in spite of the efforts made to lift him up, our gov- 
ernment is largely responsible through its policy of 
segregating, clothing and feeding him as an ox from 
the public manger. 

It was treating him as a race incapable of citizen- 
ship; as if the best that could be done for him was 
to pen him up within definite limits, provide for 
him the necessities of life without any effort or cost 
on his part whatever. It is a matter of congratula- 
tion that this un-American absurdity of keeping one 
class of people thus segregated, has been clearly dem- 
onstrated, and that the reservation system is being 
broken up as fast as circumstances will allow, and 
replaced by the allotment policy, which as far as 
we can see at the present time is sane statesman- 
ship. 

The Indian is thought of as possessing certain 
racial tendencies, such as to eat, to drink and prefer 
pleasure to work ; that these tendencies are so deeply 
rooted in the race as to unfit him forever for honour- 
able citizenship. What may be said of the Indian 
139 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

in this respect, might also be said of all primitive 
tribes of all other races of mankind. 

Francis Leupp, who was United States Commis- 
sioner for many years, and who is among the most 
efficient and sympathetic friends of the Indians, re- 
lates this incident, confirming our belief that the 
Indians as a whole despise being treated as paupers. 
" An Indian chief begged the government agent not 
to send free rations to his tribe, because he did not 
wish their young men to be ruined by learning to 
eat free bread out of the government's hand." 

On my missionary tours through the state of 
Montana, I have often been in the homes and con- 
versed with the chiefs on the Flathead and other 
reservations, and from what I have learned as the 
prevailing sentiment among them, it is not alms they 
desire, but assistance and encouragement towards 
self-support and honourable citizenship. 

To accomplish this end, is the work of the gov- 
ernment in cooperation with the philanthropic so- 
cieties and missionary efforts supported by the 
church. 

Certain characteristics of the Indian make it im- 
possible for his race to attain worthy citizenship un- 
aided. He is too greatly deficient in imitative quali- 
ties and business ability, to successfully compete 
with the white man's industrial gifts. If the first 
duty of a nation in its educational system is to in- 
sure its future quality, these characteristics should 
140 



REDEMPTION OF THE RED MAN 

be kept in view, in efforts put forth to render assist- 
ance and encouragement. This is evidently the in- 
tent of the government in the policies adopted in 
the last few years. The purpose is to establish 
an Indian citizenship along a definitely denned plan. 

First. To grant him a home of his own. 

Second. To lay upon him a personal responsi- 
bility for the management of his own property. 

Third. To protect him through paternal over- 
sight and superintendency, for a term of years in 
the title of his lands. 

Fourth. To give the young people, through the 
government schools, industrial education near their 
homes. 

All this places emphasis where it belongs, and 
where it should be placed, as a means of encourage- 
ment towards self support and in preparation for 
citizenship. 

The supreme moral responsibility imposed upon 
the United States in the annexation of Porto Rico, 
the Philippines and other islands of the sea which 
became our inheritance as the result of the Spanish- 
American war, was promptly recognized by Presi- 
dent McKinley when he said, " The Philippines are 
ours, not to exploit, but to develop, to civilize, to 
educate and to train in the science of self-govern- 
ment. This is the path of duty we must follow or 
be recreant to a great trust." 

All that can be expected from the government is 
141 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

recognition of the same moral responsibility for the 
Indians, who were the first Americans and now 
live within our borders. That recent policies 
are being pushed with considerable degree of ear- 
nestness, is evidenced from the fact that as early 
as June, 1909, nearly 81,000 Indians had received 
allotments, aggregating 12,500,000 acres of land. 
Special attention has been given also to primary 
schools and industrial training. So well has this 
system been prosecuted and so far reaching is it in 
promises for the future, that it seems as though the 
Indian problem has been practically solved so far 
as policies are concerned on the part of the gov- 
ernment. It has come now to be largely a matter 
of more efficient administration, which we hope will 
grow better as experience teaches. 

One thing the government might do and ought 
to do at once, is to give more scientific treatment 
to the sanitary conditions of the Indians. The In- 
dian tribes are ravaged by two of the most dreaded 
diseases, — tuberculosis and trachoma. The Crow 
Indians of Montana, numbering 1,725, live on one 
reservation, and 98 per cent, of the tribe are tainted 
with tuberculosis. This tribe is worth $9,000,000 
in lands and cash in the United States treasury. It 
is said that the death rate from tuberculosis among 
all Indians of the United States is 30.72 per 1,000 
of population. When consideration is given to the 
splendid work our government has done in Cuba 
142 



REDEMPTION OF THE RED MAN 

and the Philippines for health and sanitation, our 
record in this regard among the Indians is, to say 
the least, shameful neglect. This question calls for 
prompt action. To have it delayed threatens the 
health of the white race, who are compelled in 
many ways to come more or less in contact with 
the Indians. 

In this chapter it is the purpose of the writer to 
speak especially of missionary work and efforts 
that are of religious and philanthropic character. 
Among the agencies working for the good of the 
Indian, aside from the government, are philan- 
thropic societies deriving their impulse and interests 
from purely humanitarian motives. Such as the 
" National Indian Association," composed mostly 
of women, whose interests in the welfare of the red 
man, have prompted their efforts and enlisted phil- 
anthropic support. " The Indian Rights Associa- 
tion," " The Indian Citizenship Committee," " The 
Indian Branch of the Anti-Saloon League of 
America," the names of which indicate their special 
sphere of labour and service in behalf of the Indian 
race. That such a large number of respectable and 
influential citizens, as well as the government itself, 
are so deeply interested in behalf of this long abused 
and neglected people, too long forgotten by the 
Christian citizens of our nation, indicates a brighter 
future. 

But the salvation of this people is a work pecu- 
143 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

liarly committed to American Christians. The in- 
stincts of religion and patriotism should prompt the 
effort. A sense of responsibility and obligation to 
the heathen in our own land should kindle enthusi- 
asm and impel heroic zeal. The history of the 
often unjust and cruel dealings with this native race 
in the past, should create sympathetic impulse to 
speedy and effective measures for their redemption. 
The religious influence of a large number of Chris- 
tian teachers in our government schools, should be 
reckoned among the redemptive forces employed 
for the Indian. Like most of the real forces of 
life, their labours are not appreciated as they should 
be. In a quiet way and apart from public observa- 
tion, they teach the fundamental truths of the Bible, 
Biblical texts, selections from the Psalms and other 
portions of Scripture are committed to memory and 
Christian hymns are sung in the schools. Such 
teachers exercise a powerful influence by their per- 
sonal touch over the Indian home. Many of them 
also become teachers in the Sabbath-schools and 
zealous helpers in Christian churches established for 
the Indians. 

While this may be said, we all know that the 
government schools cannot be utilized for distinc- 
tive purpose of teaching religion, or for the para- 
mount necessity of imparting religious education. 
We recognize, and we ought to appreciate as well, 
that there is much religious work accomplished 
144 



REDEMPTION OF THE RED MAN 

through the devotion of the individual teacher, but 
the sooner the Christian churches of America realize 
that distinctively religious training must be given, 
apart from our public school system, either on or 
off the reservations, the sooner will the seriousness 
of the problem which confronts us be understood 
and acted upon. 

The secularization of national schools has be- 
come an accepted fact, and the only well-founded 
hope of religious training is in the distinctively re- 
ligious home and school. This must be supported 
by the church. American citizenship, north and 
south, east and west, is already civilized. It is not 
Christianized, although we may call it a Christian 
civilization, because permeated with Christian prin- 
ciples and teachings. Without the influence of 
Christianity leavening secular education, our repub- 
lican institutions have no more assurance of per- 
manency than the Grecian republics of ancient his- 
tory. 

All our missionary work in these growing em- 
pires of the West, must have for its chief aim and 
purpose, what has been emphasized in previous 
chapters, the making of Christian Citizenship. Our 
aim is higher than that of the state. The saving 
and redemptive power of the Gospel is more than 
intellectual and industrial training. 

Is the Gospel efficacious in saving the Indian? 
Has the Indian a basic sense of moral responsibility 
145 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

sufficiently robust to be capable of high religious de- 
velopment? We who believe with the Apostle 
Paul, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power 
of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, 
these questions are absurd. However, some very 
intellgent persons, do ask such questions, favouring 
a negative answer. 

A lady missionary among the Indians for sev- 
eral years, whose health was impaired through de- 
votion to the work, whose labours showed excep- 
tional results, was returning East, seeking renewal 
of bodily strength, when a friend said to her in a 
sarcastic tone, " Are you a missionary among the 
Indians ? " " Yes," she replied. " Do you not 
think it will take a long time to civilize the In- 
dians?" She answered, "Judging from the time 
it has taken to civilize the white man, no doubt it 
will." 

I do not put as much stress on statistical reports 
of Christian work as correct indices of what has 
been done, as some do. Nevertheless, some ap- 
proximately correct estimate may be reached by 
statistical reports of missionary work among the 
Indians. 

Inasmuch as I am writing of the spiritual con- 
quest of the Northwest, my citations will be prin- 
cipally of work done in the northern states. 

It should be noted that missionary work among 
the Indians began long before reservations had 
146 



REDEMPTION OF THE RED MAN 

been considered. Had it not been for the prelimi- 
nary missionary work ; had it not been for the thou- 
sands of devoted and Christian Indians, the direct 
result of missionary endeavour, the efficiency of the 
government schools as seen to-day, would not have 
been possible. The missionaries sowed the seed in 
years gone by, and the harvest is the opportunity of 
to-day. 

Among these early heroes of Christ, whose 
labours were in behalf of the Dakota Indians, are 
the names of Steven W. Riggs, John P. William- 
son, D. D., Bishop Whipple and Bishop Hare, saints 
whose records stand with honour among the great 
hosts of valiant servants of God. 

Dr. John P. Williamson says, " There are about 
five thousand communicants of all denominations 
among the twenty-five thousand Dakota Indians. 
Under their influence, idol worship in public is a 
thing of the past." As to self-support he says, 
"Of the thirty-two Presbyterian churches, twenty 
pay over half or more of the salary of their pastors, 
and one of them pays the whole." 

Under Presbyterian care there are three white 
missionaries and seventeen Indian ministers. 
There are thirty-two churches with a membership of 
1,713, and 650 children in the Sabbath school. All 
this work is supported by the gift of $10,000 from 
the Home Mission Board. These churches re- 
turned of this amount, $750.00 by voluntary con- 
147 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

tributions, and $4,000.00 they give to Presbyterian 
Missionary Society, while their contributions for 
supporting their own churches amounts to $6,- 
400.00. 

Dr. Williamson further says, " Fifty years ago 
when I received my appointment as missionary to 
the Dakota Indians, there were only a score of 
Christian families in the whole nation. Notwith- 
standing the inherited impress of paganism on their 
hearts, God has shown his power and mercy in 
calling eight of their descendants into the ministry, 
out of twenty-one Dakotas who have been or- 
dained in the Presbyterian church. And looking 
at the church members, we find that about fifty per 
cent, of the 1,600 communicants in our churches are 
Christians of the third and fourth generations." 

The Episcopal church in its missionary work 
among the Dakotas, reports seventeen native min- 
isters, and sixty-three licensed assistants; an in- 
crease of communicants in twenty years from 900 
to 3,800, and the offerings of Indians from $1,500 
to $9,500. 

The American Missionary Society has some 
twenty churches among the Dakotas, with sixty 
preaching stations and thirty-five native ministers. 

In Montana the Baptists and Congregational 
churches have very successful and flourishing mis- 
sions among the Crows, and the Presbyterians at 
Wolf Point. 

148 



REDEMPTION OF THE RED MAN 

It is only a few years since that vast territory 
of our country, known now as Minnesota, North 
and South Dakota, parts of Nebraska, Wyoming 
and Montana, was the hunting ground of the Sioux 
nation, numbering about sixty thousand Indians. 
There are pioneers still living in Montana who re- 
member those days and recall many incidents illus- 
trating their warlike and treacherous deeds. The 
Williamsons and Riggs, the earliest missionaries to 
the Sioux nation, instilled in their early converts a 
missionary spirit. The Christian Sioux organized 
for themselves a missionary society, with the object 
of sending the Gospel farther West, where many 
of their people were moving. A mission station 
was established at Wolf Point, on the north bank 
of the Missouri River, near the boundary line be- 
tween North Dakota and Montana. A young boy 
of the Sioux, named Richard King, became a con- 
vert at the Good Will Mission. Being filled with 
the missionary spirit, he was received into the Da- 
kota Presbytery, and commissioned to preach to his 
far away Sioux brothers. He and his wife estab- 
lished the station at Wolf Point among the warrior 
tribes of the Assiniboines. The work so heroically 
begun was of brief duration. Mr. King died after 
a few months' labor. The mission, however, was 
continued by Mrs. King, who took up her husband's 
work after his death. The story of her devotion, 
patience and zeal is worthy a place among such as 
149 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

are recorded in the eleventh chapter of the epistle 
to the Hebrews. We have heard her speak in our 
churches and plead for her cause with becoming 
modesty, yet with a warmth of feeling and love that 
never failed to win sympathy and support, as she 
told her story of unselfish service. 

There is another record of missionary w r ork, 
which because of its unique character and remark- 
able success deserves a much larger place in the 
annals of Indian missions, than it has ever re- 
ceived. Some of the writer's personal friends have 
visited the island of Metlakathla, and testify to 
the truthfulness of the following narrative, that re- 
cords perhaps the most successful and far-reaching 
service ever rendered by one man in behalf of the 
Indians. Only a very brief outline can be given 
in these pages. 

An account of William Duncan's wonderful mis- 
sion has been written by Geo. T. B. Davis, entitled, 
" Metlakathla," a true Narrative of the Red Man," 
published by the Ram's Horn Company of Chicago, 
in 1904. (I have been informed that the book is 
now out of print.) Since that time a larger and 
fuller account of his missionary work has been pub- 
lished, but few persons have so far learned of this 
unique work of William Duncan in the far north. 

William Duncan, in 1856, was a student in the 
Highbury Training School, London, when he re- 
ceived his call from the Church Missionary Society, 
150 



REDEMPTION OF THE RED MAN 

to go to the far north as a missionary to the Indians 
at Fort Simpson. He sailed December, 1856, at 
the age of 26. The narrative speaks of him as a 
man whose " whole countenance and posture indi- 
cates a young man of strong resolution and iron 
will." 

He was an idealist, but had the force of character 
necessary to transmute dreams into realities, in the 
face of obstacles however difficult. After a voyage 
of six months he reached Victoria. It was not until 
the latter part of September, 1857, that he was 
permitted to continue his journey to his destined 
mission. The tribes he went to save were perhaps 
the most savage and bloodthirsty of all the Indians 
in this far Northland. Several months were spent 
in studying the language, before he could begin his 
real work. Fort Simpson was a garrison five hun- 
dred miles north of Victoria, occupied by only 
twenty English soldiers and officers, where three 
thousand Tsimshean Indians lived near by. After 
a few years of untold hardships, yet with marked 
degree of success, Mr. Duncan's far vision discov- 
ered the folly of effort in civilizing and Christian- 
izing his converts in the environment of savagery 
and worst forms of superstitious rites of paganism. 
It was then he resolved to adopt the colonization 
plan that proved to be the crowning achievement of 
his life. 

The island of Metlakathla was selected, some 
151 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

seventeen miles from Fort Simpson. Here he 
planned a model village for his converts and re- 
solved to separate them from their barbarous en- 
vironment. The necessity of separating his con- 
verts and especially the children under instruction 
in the schools, from the vice and immorality and 
heathenism around Fort Simpson, became the ma- 
tured plan wrought out from his experience of 
several years. 

The conviction grew that the spiritual welfare of 
the Indians demanded a Christian colony, where 
peace and quiet would reign, where industries would 
be taught and toil rewarded, and where the terrible 
evils of fire-water would be unknown. 

The island being selected, fifteen rules were for- 
mulated which all should sign who joined the 
colony. These rules were considered essential to 
social order and prosperity. They are worthy of 
study as foundation principles of good government 
and reveal profound statesmanship. They are as 
follows : 

i. — To give up " Ahlied " or Indian deviltry. 

2. — To cease calling in " Shamans " or medicine 
men. 

3. — To cease gambling. 

4. — To cease giving away their property for dis- 
play. 

5. — To cease painting their faces. 

6. — To cease indulgence in intoxicating drinks. 
152 



REDEMPTION OF THE RED MAN 

7. — To rest on the Sabbath day. 
8. — To attend religious instruction. 
9. — To send their children to school. 

10. — To be cleanly. 

11. — To be industrious. 

12. — To be peaceful. 

13. — To be liberal and honest in trade. 

14. — To build neat houses. 

15. — To pay the village tax. 

It is related that Mr. Duncan realized fully what 
an eventful page in the history of the Indians was 
being turned, and that his joy was great, when the 
canoes left the shore, the sun which had been hidden 
beind the rain-clouds, broke forth disclosing a beau- 
tiful rainbow, a most happy omen to the pilgrims 
departing for their new home on the island of Met- 
lakathla. 

The stories of some of the conversions are as 
wonderful and miraculous as that of the Apostle 
Paul. The conversion of Paul Lagaic, chief of all 
the Tsimshean tribes, and notorious for his cruelty 
and revengeful spirit, is a remarkable incident of 
God's saving grace in redeeming the chief of sin- 
ners. 

As the year passed, Metlakathla became a Gos- 
pel beacon, radiating law and order throughout all 
the surrounding country. When the new church 
building was dedicated on Christmas day, 1874, 
there was great rejoicing. 
153 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

Mr. Duncan said, " Over seven hundred Indians 
were present at our opening service. Could it be 
that this concourse of well dressed people in the 
new and beautiful church, but a few years ago made 
up the fiendish assemblies at Fort Simpson ? Could 
it be that these voices, now engaged in solemn 
prayer and thrilling song of praise to Almighty God, 
are the very voices I once heard yelling and whoop- 
ing at heathen orgies on dismal winter nights ? " 

There are sixteen elders in the Metlakathla 
church, and they are all lay preachers as op- 
portunity affords. The testimony of Mr. Duncan, 
after his long years of experience and remarkable 
success, is briefly stated as follows: 

" I firmly believe that missionaries all over the 
world should adopt the Christian settlement plan of 
procedure. Just as soon as a small group of Chris- 
tians have been won from heathenism, they should 
remove and form a separate and distinct colony. 
The converts will in that way grow and develop 
far better and faster, than when living in daily 
contact with all sort of vice common among the 
heathen." 

Industrial progress and possibilities of the In- 
dians has a practical illustration among the Crows 
in Montana. Since fairs and expositions conducted 
by civilized nations are looked upon as evidence of 
products and manufacturing interests, so may the 
154 



REDEMPTION OF THE RED MAN 

exhibition on the part of the Indians be a prac- 
tical illustration of what they are capable of 
doing when given a chance. For several years, 
under the encouragement and supervision of the 
Government Agent, the Crow Indians have held an 
annual fair, which has attracted attention and 
marks an epoch in the progress towards advanced 
conditions of civilization. A description of the 
"Crow Indian Fair" written by Mrs. E. A. Rich- 
ardson, is here given in full, believing that it will 
furnish instructive reading for those interested in 
the moral and industrial growth of the Indians. 

(Mrs. Richardson was a teacher in the govern- 
ment schools on the Crow Reservation for sixteen 
years. Both in education and experience, she is 
eminently fitted to write intelligently on the sub- 
ject.) 

" One would never forget it, especially if unfa- 
miliar with Indian customs. The festivities were 
scheduled for five days, but interest attached to 
preparatory work over a week previous, when vis- 
iting tribes or their representatives arrived in ever 
increasing numbers, on ponies, in wagons, and on 
cars. All showed by dress and manners a transi- 
tion stage of development towards the ideals and 
apparel of their pale face conquerors. 

" The Crow districts or settlements nearest head- 
quarters acted as hosts, and for about two weeks 
155 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

were upon the camping ground, exercising them- 
selves to entertain these first visitors, providing 
gifts and extending to all the courtesies and cere- 
monies so much a part of Indian life. 

" The Crows are truly princely hosts, and their 
guests know well the worth of such visits for them- 
selves. In fact no one knows better than Mr. 
Indian how to look after the " loaves and fishes." 
The visitors represented many tribes; Black feet, 
Piegans, Crees, Assiniboines, Umatillas, Nez Perces, 
Shoshones, Southern Arapahoes, and Cheyennes, 
and about two hundred Sioux, under the noted 
American Horse, but from various points; princi- 
pally Yankton, Fort Berthold, Rosebud, Pine Ridge, 
Crow Creek, and lower Brule. Practically the 
whole tribe of Northern Cheyennes (more than 
1200) under Old Two Moons of Custer battle 
fame, arrived on Sunday, the twelfth, thus keeping 
up the great procession that characterised the day, 
as the Pryors, Big Horns and Lodge Grass Crows 
all reached the Agency. 

" A noticeable feature was the transportation of 
tepee poles on farm wagons, which was not nearly 
so artistic as the old way of fastening one end to a 
pack horse and letting the other drag on the ground. 
For many hours they passed in steady stream, mak- 
ing one of the most interesting features of a truly 
unique event. It was a remarkable sight to an 
outsider, the long files of loaded trams, ponies, lum- 
156 



REDEMPTION OF THE RED MAN 

ber wagons, all winding their way slowly over the 
hills from three different directions, into and 
through the Agency, and on eastward over the river 
to their camping ground. 

" In the camps all was orderly confusion, great 
activity and pleasant excitement. Tepees and tents 
arose on every side, the camp criers adding to the 
general stir and hum of life, to which innumerable 
dogs added a big share. Each district had its par- 
ticular location with its medicine tepee in the midst. 
These are all painted a terra cotta and have some 
symbolic design, including the medicine pipe. A 
large dance tent and the poles of a tobacco dance 
tepee were also a feature of each district village. 
Monday morning found the camp details completed, 
and presenting a beautiful sight, with the handsome 
tepees clustered in district groups among the au- 
tumn tinted trees, the brownish grey hills forming 
a perfect background, while bright days gave that 
peculiarly, clear atmosphere condition that makes 
this climate an ideal one for such scenes during In- 
dian summer. Artists and artistic photographers 
were in ecstacies of delight over Nature's finishing 
touch to the fine effect produced by these children 
who live so close to her heart. Bright colours and 
fantastic costumes all combined to make one long 
for the powers to reproduce the picture for the 
benefit of others. Driving from district to district, 
the Black Lodge, Reno Lodge Grass, Big Horn and 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

Pryor Crows, the Cheyenne and Sioux encamp- 
ments, we could but realize how much freedom, 
fresh air and sunshine meant to these people, and 
how truly the average eye is pleased with bright 
colours and spectacular display. This was especially 
noticeable during the night dances, when painted 
bodies and all the paraphernalia used on such occa- 
sions formed a never ending source of amusement to 
the white visitors who were on the ground in large 
numbers all the week, many camping near the In- 
dians. Perfect moonlight nights added comfort 
and beauty to the occasion. Friday night the dances 
were held in the open air around a huge camp- 
fire, and the dancers from all the various villages 
(about a thousand in all) took part at once. This 
was a very weird and beautiful scene, making a 
much finer spectacle than those given other nights 
in dance tents, each district for itself. Those who 
arose early enough to see the camp astir and watch 
the preparations for and partaking of, the primitive 
meals, felt well repaid for the sight; while every 
effort was made to see the camp by fire and moon- 
light, even those who had long wearied of dances 
found this too beautiful to forego. 

" The festivities were opened Monday morning 

with a tobacco and medicine dance at each village, 

thus propitiating their gods for the Fair and for the 

coming year. Each day's program was started 

158 



REDEMPTION OF THE RED MAN 

with a grand parade formed in the camp and headed 
by all the great chiefs, with Plentycoos at the head 
carrying the American flag, followed by a squad of 
police, headed by Captain Big Medicine carrying 
the flag of the tribe, and lieutenants Fire Bear and 
Scolds Bear. 

" Next came the band composed of Indian school 
children (a band which would do credit to a town 
of 10,000 inhabitants). Then followed camp In- 
dians, in carriages, wagons, and on horseback; the 
school children, the old people, camp followers and 
visiting Indians bringing up the rear, making a pro- 
cession over two miles long. It was a sight to be 
remembered; the various costumes, war bonnets, 
blankets, police uniforms, elk-tooth dresses, school 
garbs and citizens' clothes, making a wondrous ex- 
hibition. The formal line of march included a visit 
to each district, and a stop at the villages of visiting 
tribes, where the usual ceremonies were performed 
in their honour. 

" One of the loveliest sights was that of the pro- 
cession crossing the Little Horn River, where the 
clear water reflected the brilliant pageant, enhancing 
its beauty manifold. All this is supposed to be a 
minor consideration of the Fair; but what visitor 
ever gave it the second place ? However, of the Fair 
proper, its races and industral displays, there was no 
need to be ashamed. The tickets were on sale at 
159 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

the rear of the trader's store on the only direct road 
to the fair grounds. The crowds were so great that 
the tickets could not be sold fast enough to admit 
attendance at all the races, so after the first day, 
the tickets were on sale before noon to enable the 
people to reach the grand-stand in good season. 
It took more than two hours for the main body of 
Fair visitors to pass through the entrance. 

" The entire management of the Fair was in the 
hands of a committee composed entirely of Crow 
Indians, who had been selected in Indian council ; 
and it was much better managed than many county 
fairs, due to the advice of their energetic agent, 
Major Reynolds. This industrial Fair is one of 
the many things that Major Reynolds has inaugu- 
rated to help elevate and encourage the Indians' 
industrial work. It is prophesied by many, as well 
as ourselves, that this Fair will be one of the great- 
est exhibitions of the state, if it increases propor- 
tionately the next five years as it has in the past 
three. We must congratulate Major Reynolds for 
this originality; for while two or three tribes have 
" Annual Meets," with dancing and horse racing, 
as a feature, we are sure that this is the first to make 
a point of the industrial side, and we are acquainted 
with Indians and their doings in general. An in- 
spector assures us that this is the only thing of its 
kind in the United States. Some Indians exhibit 
at fairs conducted by white people, but this is the 
1 60 



REDEMPTION OF THE RED MAN 

only place where the Indians really run a fair, take 
the gate receipts, and have full charge of everything. 

" The relay races were particularly enjoyable, and 
the crowd went wild over the bucking bronco riding, 
and that of the school girls and boys. Charles M. 
Bair gave special prizes for school children, the 
other prizes being paid for from gate receipts. 

" But to the industrial display : The large building 
used for this purpose exhibited the products and 
work, in sections, for each district and the four 
schools on the reservation. The government school 
at the Agency attracted, particular attention for 
the beauty and variety of exhibits. Basketry made 
from sweet grass, raffia and willow, was one of 
the important features. Visitors attested their ap- 
preciation by orders for goods. Black Lodge 
Grass, Pryor and Mission schools each showed good 
work. Black Lodge made the most artistic display 
of any of the districts, while Lodge Grass exhibited 
a greater variety of products. Every one was as- 
tonished at the fineness of the exhibit, especially at 
the size and quality of the pumpkins, squashes and 
potatoes — the potatoes causing comment more 
than anything else. Many experienced farmers 
said they were the finest potatoes that they had ever 
seen at any place. Louis Bompard's prize pigs at- 
tracted attention, as did Mrs. Gordon's turkeys and 
chickens. Jellies, pies, bread, butter, cake, all looked 
fine enough to please any housewife's soul. Truly 
161 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

nothing could so inspire effort to raise the Indians' 
love for industrial pursuits as this plan so success- 
fully adopted by the Agent of the Crows. 

" Five prize tepees were of great interest to visi- 
tors, they were so beautifully kept, so artistically 
furnished and of such magnificent proportions, be- 
ing much larger than usual. The tepee poles shone 
as if they had been polished every day for weeks. 
The tepee is certainly a thing of beauty, and my 
Indian lady well knows how to adorn it, in keeping 
with its purpose, the walls being hung with Indian 
work of all sorts. 

" Saturday was pronounced the best day of all. 
In the morning the convention was held, where all 
business pertaining to the Fair was settled and 
officers appointed for the next year. Horses and 
people showed effects of the strenuous week, but 
by two o'clock were at the closing exercises, the 
dance of the Sioux and the Cheyennes, at the dis- 
trict villages in honour of the Crows. The hand- 
some head dress and garb of the Sioux caused much 
excitement, as well as comment. They gave in 
the open space of each village a mimic war dance 
and sham battle. The motley crowd in wagons, on 
horse and on foot, which pressed close up on the 
dancers, often requiring the marshal's attention to 
keep them back, moved rapidly and seemingly in 
solid mass with the dancers in their rapid march 
from village to village, make as great a picture as 
162 



REDEMPTION OF THE RED MAN 

the dance itself. At one time the marshals led the 
way to an open space before the Agent's team and 
the ceremonies performed there in his honour. This 
particularly pleased many visitors who had fre- 
quently commented upon Agent Reynolds' unassum- 
ing conduct, always taking his chance with other 
people, and never asserting any more rights to see 
or be seen than the lowliest visitor, this particular 
notice being entirely unsought. Before all the vil- 
ages had been visited, about thirty Crows, represent- 
ing a war party in full war regalia, mounted on 
decorated horses and dressed with handsome 
beaded blankets and fine head dresses, rode to 
the hills, there breaking up into small groups 
and scattering through ravines and down hill- 
sides hunting for the enemy. It was a fascinating 
sight to see them winding in and out on the 
hills ever on the alert, searching for the un- 
known foe till finally the search was given up, 
the enemy not being in sight. Returning, they 
dismounted, making an impressive sight in their 
picturesque groupings upon the grey background 
with their harmonious colours. Soon they re- 
mounted and charged upon the village, surrounding 
the camp, winding in and out in the manner of ye 
olden days, when they run the people out of camp. 
After this mad ride they gathered at a certain point 
and gave a buffalo dance, part of it being enacted 
on horseback. A striking feature of this part was, 
163 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

one of the players would fling away a war bonnet, 
or some other part of their fine costume, and the 
wild scramble that ensued to secure it. Dismount- 
ing, they danced in full abandon to the music, thus 
finishing the ceremonies with all the zeal of an 
Indian's love for a telling climax." 

Since the above was written, the last two years 
the Navajo Indians of New Mexico have also had 
a Fair, of which the Board of Indian Commission- 
ers says in its report for 1910, " The influence of 
the Crow and Navajo Indian Agricultural Fairs 
will be far-reaching, we believe; and we trust that 
many superintendents will at once enter upon simi- 
lar plans with the Indians who are under their 
supervision." 

Hon. James S. Sherman, ex-Vice President of the 
United States in an address before the Lake Mo- 
honk conference, in 191 1, said, " Until half a century 
ago, the minds of the people and the government 
were so occupied with other matters, that the man- 
agement of the Indian problem was neither sys- 
tematic nor effective. Since then, however, we have 
conducted the affairs of the Indians systematically 
and progressively. Every agreement between the 
Indians and the government has been carried out; 
honest and intelligent supervision, coupled with 
kind yet firm discipline, has brought them to a state 
of contentment; millions of dollars spent for their 
education and their industrial welfare have been 
164 



REDEMPTION OF THE RED MAN 

well invested, as evidenced by their progress along 
lines of civilization. I am sincere in the belief that 
the progress of the American Indian in the last 
fifty years has been greater, numbers considered, 
in all paths leading to enlightenment and better- 
ment oi condition, than that of any uneducated peo- 
ple on the face of the earth." 

The Hon. John G. Brady also gives a similar 
testimony and tribute in speaking of the Alaskan 
Indians of to-day, in contrast with what they were 
in 1877. "They are not manufacturing rum; they 
are not torturing and putting witches to the stake ; 
they are not holding and dealing in slaves. The 
old communal structure and the icht, or Shaman, 
have disappeared. In their stead one beholds the 
single family dwelling and the visits of the phy- 
sician at the call of the sick. The canoe and the 
paddle are giving way to the more serviceable boat 
ribbed with oak and sheathed with spruce or red 
cedar, and propelled by oars or gasolene. Young 
men are carpenters, machinists, smiths, shoemak- 
ers, coopers, boat builders, miners, engineers on land 
and water; young women eagerly pursue the do- 
mestic arts as one can see when he enters a home 
and beholds the children and surroundings. That 
they have changed is well established by a visit to 
the store which supplies their wants. The character 
of the old trading post can no longer be discerned; 
flour, sugar, tea, coffee, cured meats, fresh fruits, 
165 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

canned goods of all kinds even to salmon, tables, 
chairs, bedsteads, bureaus, cooking stoves, pictures, 
musical instruments, ready-made suits, fine coffins 
— factory made, knives and forks, and cups and 
saucers, are all kept by the merchant who caters to 
the trade. I should say a word as to their patriot- 
ism. They know from their own experience the 
difference between Russia and the United States, 
and the young generations have been taught from 
our school histories. Almost every family has a 
fine American flag, and on all gala days it is flung 
to the breeze. Nearly every large house has a flag 
pole. They observe Memorial Day and the Fourth 
of July with great interest. I am confident the 
country could find no more willing and braver de- 
fenders if their services were asked." 

From all these records and testimonies it must 
be manifest that the Indian's moral sensibilities are 
not so hardened, that he is incapable of reaching 
citizenship, or beyond the possibility of redemption. 
Both in an industrial and religious way, he is a 
willing learner, and can be made a desirable citizen 
and faithful Christian. 

If the results are not commensurate with the la- 
bours and money expended on his behalf, a partial 
explanation may be discovered in the fact that na- 
tions are not born in a day, nor are they lifted from 
paganism to civilization in a generation. " When 
the Gothic tribes swarmed down upon the civiliza- 
166 



REDEMPTION OF THE RED MAN 

tion of the feeble Roman Empire, they had already- 
been under the influence of Christian teachers, some 
of them for fully one hundred years, and yet Pro- 
fessor George Burton Adams says they had hardly 
attained a condition as advanced as that in which 
some of the better Indian tribes were when Colum- 
bus discovered America. 

" Some of these European races who were ex- 
posed to a better environment, and perhaps endowed 
with superior natural talents, advanced to a toler- 
able fair state of civilization within two hundred 
years, but the work of civilizing Europe and bring- 
ing the mass of the barbarians under the subjection 
of law, and to something approaching a true civiliza- 
tion, was the work of fully one thousand years." 
(Hon. John J. Delany, an address before the Lake 
Mohonk Conference, 1907.) 

The superior material aids and better facilities 
for spiritual conquest of the present century, ought 
to make the work of barbarian evangelization much 
easier and warrant a greater assurance of speedier 
accomplishment than in former years; but we need 
not expect the completion of so great an undertak- 
ing in one or two generations. 

It is very evident that the greatest success in 
redeeming the red man has been attained by those 
missionaries who have been in the work from ten 
to fifty years, and the greatest of all by those who 
have given their lives to the Indian's salvation. 
167 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

As a concluding suggestion, which is not intended 
to imply criticism, the most important thing in the 
present stage of missionary development among the 
Indians, is not more money, but that it be more 
economically and wisely used ; not more mission- 
aries, but a better quality of them; for quality, not 
quantity is the great need for more rapid develop- 
ment and progress. Men and women who will 
make it their life work, who have vision and sym- 
pathetic hearts, who will give practical expression 
and direction to gospel truth. Right thinking and 
right feeling can only find appropriate expression 
in welldoing. Let it be remembered that the In- 
dian problem, like some other racial problems, does 
not consist in the large number involved, but rather 
because they are spread over such a large territory. 

On the West Coast they reach from Arizona to 
Alaska; on the East from New York to Florida, 
and along the Rockies from Mexico to Canada. 
This makes the work more expensive and more 
difficult than if located in more limited territory. 

Again, let it be remembered that the secret of 
success in redeeming the red man is very much 
the same as it is in the redemption of other men. 
It requires constant, persevering and self-sacrificing 
devotion. The missionary must carry with him 
something more than a Bible. He must take the 
hoe and the plough, as well as phylacteries and min- 
isterial garb. Our Saviour not only had compas- 
168 



REDEMPTION OF THE RED MAN 

sion, but he was moved with compassion, because 
the people were as sheep without a shepherd. So let 
the church of the living God be moved with com- 
passion, untiring patience and increasing effort, 
anticipating the glorious triumph of the saving truth 
of the Gospel, which is the power of God unto sal- 
vation to every one that believeth. 



169 



CHAPTER VIII 
RURAL CONDITIONS IN THE WEST 

THE decadence of the country church in 
eastern states strikes a note of alarm for 
the religious life of rural communities in 
every part of our country. In the great forward 
movement, country districts and small villages as a 
general rule, have not kept pace with the progressive 
spirit evident in large centres of population. 

The farmer has not been tardy in the introduc- 
tion of new and labour saving machinery, for tilling 
the soil. Backwardness is especially manifested 
in lack of economic domestic conditions, and in- 
difference to organizations that are for the general 
interests of community life. 

In more thickly settled districts, rural delivery 
and telephone advantages are generally enjoyed. 
But while the farmer is using all modern machinery 
to do his work, the housewife is doing hers very 
much as she did twenty-five years ago. The slav- 
ery of old household methods has been very little 
lessened. Modern machinery enables the farmer 
to till larger acreage, with much less cost of manual 
170 



RURAL CONDITIONS IN THE WEST 

labour, but the housewife with few conveniences 
toils laboriously as ever, from early morning till 
late at night. The home has come to be looked 
upon too much as simply a feeding and sleeping 
place. While machinery has lightened labour, it 
has not shortened labour hours for the farmer. 
The possibility of cultivating more acres has in- 
creased the lust for material gain. Both in the 
kitchen and on the farm all efforts seem to be put 
forth under the inspiration of this sordid motive. 
It has thus come to pass that the farmer's horizon 
is widened only in the direction of selfish pursuit. 
The general welfare of the community in which 
he lives, is lost sight of through complete absorp- 
tion of individual interests. 

A charitable interpretation of this growing lack 
of community interests in rural population, is ac- 
counted for not so much by indifference as for want 
of leadership. But whatever may be the excuse, 
local and civic pride are suppressed through selfish 
direction of individual energy. The ethical, moral 
and religious needs of life are sacrificed to the 
mammon of material gain. The story of the rich 
farmer losing his soul, while planning and build- 
ing larger barns, is repeated. 

But this chapter is intended to speak especially 
of rural conditions in the West. While many 
things are found in common, the West differs from 
the East in several particulars. 
171 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

First, in the West rural population is scattered 
over a very large territory. Land being cheap, 
large tracts are easily possessed. Neighbours are 
distant from each other, and schools are small in 
proportion as farms are large. A few rich valleys 
might be mentioned as exceptions, where land is 
more valuable and population more compact. This 
fact makes it difficult to sustain religious organiza- 
tions and increases the tendency to exclusiveness. 
The difficulty in fostering community interests in 
such conditions, increases proportionately to the 
sparsity of the settlements. 

Second, the West is new. There are no old 
settlements in the West. There are no decadent 
churches. Our work is that of building, not re- 
pairing. We have not come to the twenty-fifth 
birthday of our country churches, and most of 
them have scarcely reached school age. They pos- 
sess the vigour of youth, the buoyancy of early 
manhood and the hopefulness of wonderful growth. 

Third, the West has an advantage over the 
East, in that denominational rivalry is not so mani- 
fest as in old settled communities. In small vil- 
lages and country places, the people show a 
disposition to lay aside sectarian preferences, and 
a willingness to cooperate with any Christian ef- 
fort that is for the common good. This is an 
advanced step in solving the problem of the coun- 
try church. Persons going West cut loose from 
172 



RURAL CONDITIONS IN THE WEST 

hide-bound traditions when they left their homes 
and roamed over the vast areas spread out around 
them. There is bigness in the stretch of the plains, 
newness in the forest and prairie, and generousness 
in the soil, that broadens life. The rural districts 
on these wide plains and among the hills, may yet 
become a demonstration of ideal country life. If 
so, it will likely be done along certain lines of pro- 
gressiveness. 

First, the country school will adopt a different 
course of study than that of the city. Both have 
their own problems as varied as their surroundings. 
Certain elementary studies will no doubt be the 
same in all schools, but beyond the elementary, 
subjects for study should be chosen which will 
most interest as well as help the scholars to meet 
conditions of their immediate environment. 

It is a very common complaint that so many of 
our country young people are flocking to the cit- 
ies. To them city life has more attractions than 
the country. The only way to counteract this 
tendency is to change the situation so that the 
country may become more attractive. It passes 
our understanding why some people are willing to 
live in the city, apparently for no other reason than 
to be near the bright lights and the crowd. Tucked 
away in a few rooms at the back end of a dirty 
tenement building, without sunlight, trees or even 
a view of mother earth, your neighbours you may 
173 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

not know to speak to, without friends who care 
little whether you live or die, brought in touch 
every day with all manner of poverty and degrada- 
tion, — this is city life for the man and woman 
who lives on a small wage in the large cities. The 
longer one lives that way, the less fit one becomes 
for any sort of life. 

Compare these conditions with the average farm 
life of the Northwest. It is like coming out of the 
pest house into God's out-of-doors. What sensible 
man or woman, working out a practical destiny, 
would be willing to exchange the one for the other ? 
The city needs the country, and the country needs 
the city. Without the country from which to 
draw fresh blood occasionally, (it has been said) 
the cities would perish from mere corruption. 
Country life may mean hard work, it may mean 
isolation, but does not mean poor compensation; 
it is, to say the least, healthy. It breeds sane men 
and women. Rural life is the backbone of Ameri- 
can citizenship. The true perspective of city life, 
the bad with the good, to the thinking man, to 
the man who appreciates the advantages of life on 
the farm, would have little attraction. An old 
farmer once remarked, after a visit to the city, 
" that the more he saw of some people the more he 
liked his hogs." 

There is however another view. While the civ- 
ilization of the past has been rural and agricultural, 
174 



RURAL CONDITIONS IN THE WEST 

that of the future will be more largely of the city. 
In this age of the world, we cannot, and would 
not if we could stop the flow of country blood into 
the city. The tendency is stimulated by the appli- 
cation of machinery, which now enables four men 
in the country to do what required fourteen for- 
merly. This decreases the number required to do 
a certain amount of work in the country, and in- 
creases the demand for more men in industrial cen- 
tres. But for those who are required to meet 
increasing supplies for growing industrial centres, 
the country should be made so attractive that it will 
be adopted from choice, not from necessity. This 
is an educational process and a small beginning has 
already been made. 

A few of the Western states have accomplished 
something very practical in this direction. To in- 
terest the boys and girls in farming and domestic 
science, so that they will not be so eager to leave 
the farm for the false allurements of the cities, the 
State Fair Association of Montana has provided 
for an encampment of a certain number of boys 
and girls from each county. The boys are 
awarded prizes for agricultural products of their 
own raising, and the girls are encouraged to com- 
pete for prizes in some branch of domestic science. 
Aside from prizes awarded, the State Agricultural 
School through its professors, furnished instruction 
certain hours during Fair week. Thus they are 
J75 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

privileged to inspect farm products from all parts 
of the state, and hear lectures given by experts on 
poultry raising, dairying, live stock diseases and 
farm machinery. This is only an initiative to- 
wards introducing in the public school system a 
special course of study for country schools. Sev- 
eral other states have adopted a similar plan as the 
above mentioned, and in every instance the experi- 
ment has proved satisfactory. 

At present the course of study for country 
schools is the same as that in the city, but the coun- 
try schools should be for country children, and the 
city schools for city children. Human nature is 
just the same in the country as in the city, but 
means and methods used in the city, beyond a cer- 
tain elementary stage, should be greatly modified 
for the country. It would certainly prove to be 
one way of making country life more attractive, 
if in the country school, the science of dairying, 
dry farming, rotation of crops, the importance of 
good seed, soil chemistry, bee culture and other 
such practical subjects were taught. 

By this means the minds of young people may 
be brought into intimate knowledge of the beauty 
and wealth of the land. It would train the coun- 
try youth in all the social practices that foster con- 
tentment and good fellowship. Rural renaissance 
will come through the young people, and the coun- 
try school can be made a very important factor in 
176 



RURAL CONDITIONS IN THE WEST 

bringing about this transformation. What does it 
mean for the future of our country when boys and 
girls who advance above the eighth grade, have to 
go into towns for their education. It means not 
only that country schools should teach agriculture, 
but that they should interpret to the children the 
beauty and the inspiration of God's great out-doors. 

Second, farm life would become more attract- 
ive, especially for girls, by improvements in house- 
hold economy. Here again the West affords 
exceptional opportunities for better conditions. 
The mountain streams and springs so numerous 
are in many instances easily conveyed into the 
house, so as to have the luxury of running water 
of the purest kind. Drainage is very simple. Hot 
and cold water may be available in most country 
homes along the Rockies, and at much less cost 
than in the cities. Yet these conveniences are not 
thought of by hundreds who might have them were 
they taught the comforts they afford. Many farm 
houses I have frequently visited in my missionary 
work, have water piped into the barnyard for the 
horses, cattle and hogs, but the thought of having 
it in the house for the use of the wife, had not 
dawned in the mind of the farmer, as an advantage 
within reach. 

Third, better roads would add much to the 
attractiveness of country life. The rancher in the 
West will perhaps awaken sooner to the economy 
177 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

of good roads, than the eastern farmer, because of 
long distance to market and exceptionally good soil 
for roadmaking. It takes a long time to teach the 
farmer that bad roads rob him of a very large por- 
tion of his hard earned profits. Perhaps he is not 
so ignorant of the fact, as he is apathetic in co- 
operative attempts to remedy it. In many instances 
half a mile of poor roadway easily repaired, in- 
creases transportation expenses twenty-five per 
cent. 

Fourth, cooperative organization would add 
much to the attractiveness, as well as profits of farm 
life. The rural population is slowly but surely 
making progress in this direction. Philanthropists 
were interested in the awakening of local and civic 
pride in cities, before the needs of the country were 
seriously considered. One of the glaring sins of 
the country both east and west, is the lack of local 
and civic pride. Ambition for a higher life in the 
direction of moral and religious uplift, does not 
take a very strong hold on the average country com- 
munity. 

The city leads in that kind of improvement that 
can only be fostered by cooperative endeavour. It 
is nevertheless encouraging that at present both the 
church and philanthropists are awakening to the 
crying need for something to be done, and done 
quickly, for the moral salvation of the country. 

The Country Life Commission appointed by Ex- 
178 



RURAL CONDITIONS IN THE WEST 

President Roosevelt has attracted public attention, 
and no doubt inaugurated a new interest in im- 
provement of conditions in rural life. This Com- 
mission has at least initiated a movement that will 
result in incalculable value for the moral welfare, 
social life and industrial conditions of country com- 
munities. 

The conservation of religious life in the rural 
West, while in the formative period, is one of the 
most pressing demands along the line of home mis- 
sionary endeavor. If it is ever to be done, now is 
the time to do it. 

Along the bench lands and valleys of the Rockies, 
there are settlements composed mostly of families 
from the Middle States. One deprivation they 
sorely feel in these new settlements is lack of church 
privileges. If the church habit can be continued in 
these new conditions, it is likely to remain steadfast, 
but a year or two of their absence results too often 
in settled indifference and neglect. 

Recently, the writer has had an experience on the 
field that illustrates the above statement. 

Two country communities only ten miles apart 
are the subjects of the following observations. 
The one is an old country village (old in the west) 
where ranchmen and stockmen have been settled a 
number of years without any church privileges or 
religious influence. Through the interest of a 
Christian family recently from the East, my atten- 
179 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

tion was called to their spiritual neglect. This field 
has been visited four times and as many religious 
services held. All in the village and nearly all the 
ranchmen have been visited or interviewed within 
a radius of seven miles. Among the old settlers it 
seemed almost impossible to awaken interest in re- 
ligious matters. Most of them have been greatly 
prospered in worldly affairs, and many have become 
rich in herds of sheep, cattle and large tracts of 
land. By gathering a nucleus of a few recent 
settlers, a regular service has been established and 
a church of ten members organized. Most of the 
people were willing to subscribe towards the ma- 
terial support of the church, but would not promise 
to attend religious service. Several of them when 
invited, said, " they had not been to church for so 
long that they would not know how to behave." In 
this instance we have a church liberally supported 
so far as the financial part is concerned, but dis- 
couragingly sustained in attendance and spiritual 
interest. Perseverance, constant endeavour and 
wise administration will no doubt in time change the 
moral atmosphere and create a religious interest. 
The old inhabitants will soon pass away, joined to 
their idols in death, as they have been in life, but 
the young men and women, through social organi- 
zation and influence of the church, may be trained 
for something higher and better than that for which 
their fathers lived. The process will be slow and 
180 



RURAL CONDITIONS IN THE WEST 

discouraging. The fixed indifference and almost 
absolute neglect of religion through one generation 
cannot be changed in a day. The only entertain- 
ment this community has enjoyed, the only social 
function bringing them together for the last twenty 
years, has been the country dance, an established 
institution, liberally patronized for many miles 
distant. Three saloons have flourished, in which 
three murders were committed in two years. On 
account of their bad repute the Commissioners were 
compelled to close them down and took from them 
their retail license. At present only two saloons 
exist with a wholesale license, which does not allow 
drinking on the premises. Can any one imagine a 
more serious task than to undertake the regenera- 
tion of such a community? Only men who are 
true heroes, soldiers of the cross who can endure 
hardness, are willing to assume such responsibility. 
This is not an isolated case in the mountain states. 
It is typical of many others. 

The other community near by represents a new 
settlement of farmers. A district embracing 28,- 
000 acres recently brought under irrigation by the 
Carey Act. About fifty families have already taken 
up homesteads and more are coming every month. 
This locality was uninhabited three years ago, but 
now rich harvests are being gathered for the first 
time. The settlers are mostly poor, with mere 
shacks of buildings for homes, depending on suc- 
181 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

cessive crops for a living and first payments on 
their land. They represent an industrious and en- 
ergetic class of people, with righteous ambition and 
courageous spirit in making for themselves homes 
in the presence of the " shining mountains." 
Nearly every family has been represented in the 
few religious services held in their community. 
They are sincere and united in effort to establish a 
religious work in their midst. A church of twenty 
members has been organized. The membership 
represents five denominations and six different 
states, all united heartily in a community church 
under a denominational name. At every service so 
far, the attendance completely filled the little school 
house, the only place where a service could be held, 
and perhaps the only place they can afford for some- 
time to come. This is a sample of a great many 
new settlements in the West, where a fine oppor- 
tunity is afforded for demonstrating what a modern 
church administered on progressive methods can do 
for the uplift of a rural community. 

The above examples are given as types of many 
recently organized churches in newly developed terri- 
tory and older communities in the West. After 
organization comes the real problem, which is to 
supply them with a ministry adapted to the needs 
and conditions of such settlements. There are no 
fields so promising in results when wisely adminis- 
tered. There are few fields so inviting to the man 
182 



RURAL CONDITIONS IN THE WEST 

who has vision to see the opportunity for service in 
the Master's Kingdom. 

Here is the opportunity of the church which is 
almost criminal to neglect. To the young man 
seeking a field ready for harvesting, these country 
parishes are alluring in their possibility of develop- 
ment. The man who can enlist his sympathies with 
the common interests of such a class, can mould a 
whole community after his own pattern and bind 
his people to him with unfailing affection and rev- 
erence. 

The following is another example, that has gone 
beyond the experimental stage. It is the story of 
a mountain village, consisting of a railroad station 
with a ten by ten waiting room, a dingy stove, a 
similar room for the agent, five residences, none of 
which would cost more than seven hundred dollars, 
a mercantile store, lumber yard, grain elevator and 
small hotel. These constitute the makeup of this 
little town located in the midst of mountains rising 
high on every side. Three wagon roads centre in 
the village, leading up the ravines to benches and 
uplands where considerable farming is carried on 
with profitable results. The school house is a two 
story building. The first story is used for school 
purposes, and the second, for a general utility 
hall. It has been used for dances once a month, 
sometimes every two weeks and not unfrequently 
every week. There was organized also a whist- 
183 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

club which met at frequent intervals, often times 
having a dozen tables of players. The town people 
and country lads and lassies from the bench lands 
all join on the basis of social equality. They play 
cards or dance until about midnight, then go to the 
hotel for luncheon (sometimes so early in the morn- 
ing that it might be called breakfast) after which 
the boys and girls and some married people mount 
their ponies and hie up the gulches to their homes 
distant five to ten miles. The nearest farm house 
to this village is three miles away, the space between 
being filled with rugged mountains almost impas- 
sable, except along the ravines where wagon roads 
lead through scenery wild and romantic. At some 
of these dances as many as fifty couple have been 
present, while the card parties numbered from 
twenty to fifty persons, mostly young people. For 
ten years these card parties and dances constituted 
the only social functions and the only community 
interests bringing the people together. Possibly 
once a year an itinerate missionary might hold a 
religious service attended as a curiosity, rather than 
with a desire to worship. There was one redeem- 
ing feature in this village which made it an excep- 
tion to the usual mountain centre. It had no 
saloon. Many efforts had been made by different 
parties to secure a license, but in every case refused 
by the Commissioners under the protest of the citi- 
zens. A short time ago permanent and regular re- 
18/ 



RURAL CONDITIONS IN THE WEST 

ligious service was established. A minister of ex- 
ceptional ability, with open vision, initiative gifts, 
pleasing personality and thoroughly consecrated to 
his work, was engaged. The change wrought by 
him among this people is an illustration of what 
can be done by the village minister in like con- 
ditions. A Sabbath-school was first organized 
which in six months reached a membership of one 
hundred. A social club for the promotion of com- 
munity interests was constituted with twenty-six 
members. A country choir was organized which 
gave occasional concerts and led the singing for re- 
ligious worship. A library committee was ap- 
pointed which in a short time secured a fine collec- 
tion of books and all the principal magazines and 
daily papers. So it came to pass that the upper 
room formerly used only for dancing and card play- 
ing was converted into a reading room and used 
for religious worship. A ladies' society was or- 
ganized whose functions were of a social character. 
They furnished through some months of the year 
a semi-monthly entertainment. A luncheon was 
served early in the evening and varied entertain- 
ments followed. Sometimes a picture show, some- 
times a dramatic play, sometimes a concert. Also 
occasional lectures were given free of charge by 
professors from the State Agricultural College on 
various subjects pertaining to farming. These enter- 
tainments were largely attended by the whole com- 
185 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

munity and became events looked forward to with 
great interest, both on account of their instructive 
features and the entertainment furnished. The 
Club has undertaken road improvement and the 
building of a church, as first efforts among other 
plans to be carried out in the future. This young 
minister engaged with the young people in sports 
such as base ball and other games. He became one 
among them, their leader and sky pilot by setting a 
worthy example to follow. He never uttered a 
word against dancing and card playing, but in six 
months these forms of amusement had become a 
thing of the past, having other amusements substi- 
tuted of more interest and profit. All this change 
was brought about through this young minister, and 
yet done in such a quiet unassuming way, that the 
people themselves seemed to be the leaders. 
Through his personal touch, he became the uncon- 
scious force moulding this people after his own 
high ideal. He took up the burden of this rural 
community and bore it in the spirit of loving conse- 
cration till he has witnessed a transformation of 
moral conditions most inspiring and far reaching. 
He generated enthusiastic public spirit and civic 
pride. He conceived and initiated a rational pro- 
gramme of reform, and steadily pursued it with 
energy and zeal courageous. The theorist has de- 
scribed the ideal rural minister as a sort of general 
superintendent in all agricultural affairs. Of 
186 



RURAL CONDITIONS IN THE WEST 

course this is all foolish and unreasonable and shows 
to what extremes theorizing may be carried. 

The successful features in this case cited, has 
been the spirit of self-sacrifice, the enkindling per- 
sonality of an earnest soul, with a contagious en- 
thusiasm, resulting in unity of social action, if not 
in belief, and stimulating organization to this end. 

The difficulty is to find such men. There are 
many promising opportunities calling for this kind 
of leadership. Many fields here in the West are 
alluring to the man of vision. In eastern Mon- 
tana, the writer has organized ten rural and village 
churches in the last four years, and only two of 
them have been able to secure pastoral oversight 
further than that of the occasional visit of the 
pastor evangelist and students from the seminaries 
during a few months in the summer. The follow- 
ing is a type of many letters being received from 
these newly organized rural churches. 

" Dear Doctor : 

" Our congregation is hungry for a permanent ministry. It 
is now three years since you organized our church. We have 
been supplied two summers with students from the seminary. 
They were both good men and gave us good service. They 
have been practicing preaching on us I trust to their advan- 
tage and our edification. It is a question whether the hearers 
or students have been helped the most. We hope it has been 
mutual. We would gladly have retained them and would 
have waited till they had finished their studies, but both re- 
fused to promise to return, saying, 'they expected a call to 
a larger field of usefulness.' We can stand this kind of work 
for a little while, but it does not meet our needs. We are 
I8 7 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

losing ground rather than gaining. Our community needs a 
permanent ministry, and unless given us soon our organiza- 
tion which has great possibilities will go to pieces. It is 
weaker now than when organized. Cannot you get a man 
for us who will come with the purpose to stay as our leader. 
We are like lost sheep in the wilderness without a shep- 
herd. 

" Sincerely Yours, ." 

This is a sample of many letters received. The 
great heart-ache of the superintendent of missions 
is his powerlessness to supply these pressing needs. 
We make our appeal to the young men graduating 
in our seminaries and the response is monotonously 
the same, " We expect a call to a larger field of use- 
fulness." The young men are not altogether to 
blame. Are we not safe in saying that the tendency 
of seminary training puts the student out of sym- 
pathy with the country parish? The courses in 
pastoral theology are given by professors who have 
been pastors in large city churches. It may be said 
to the credit of one seminary at least, that last year 
an eminently successful country minister was in- 
vited to give a series of lectures before the students 
on " The Country Parish." 

One reason for slowness in growth of country 
churches is the lack of permanency in the pastorate. 
Many of the students who accept a country field, 
do so with no other intention that that of making it 
a stepping stone to a city charge. 

There are many reasons assigned for the short 
rural pastorate. Small salaries ; aged ministers who 
188 



RURAL CONDITIONS IN THE WEST 

take these fields as a last resort ; isolation and sepa- 
ration from ministerial fellowship; publicity given 
pastors in cities through the religious press, while 
the hard working, underpaid country minister is 
ignored; all these have been suggested on the part 
of the country field. 

Another reason on the side of the ministry is 
that of him who comes into a country charge with 
a conscious superiority, with pre-conceived ideals 
and theories which he endeavours to enforce, before 
he has gained confidence by getting into sympathetic 
touch with his parishioners. His first effort is al- 
most sure to irritate, to scold and to hector his 
people. Before many months and in some cases 
weeks have passed, he has lost out and the necessity 
is upon him to move on. 

But whatever be the cause of short pastorates in 
the country, the fact is manifest. The long country 
pastorate is generally the one that has a record to 
be proud of; the one on which the Divine Master 
has set His seal of approval through a prosperous 
church. 

A man with inspiration in his soul can go into 
any ordinary community or sleepy neighbourhood, 
and kindle them into a lasting fire of enthusiasm. 
To do so he must become a constructive community 
leader. He need not necessarily be specially skilled 
in any particular task, but he must have a love for 
whatever task is set before him, dreaming all the 
J89 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

while in concrete images of possibilities, improving 
the situation whatever it may be. The few really 
inspired preachers whp are transforming their 
parishes, are not possessed of remarkable mental 
gifts. Their success is not due so much to genius, 
as to consecrated application. The four great 
needs in rural life are, intellectual stimulus, eco- 
nomic reform, social enjoyment and religious faith. 
The forces the country minister has to contend 
against are stagnation and discontent, rather than 
total depravity. Hence a leader must be impelled 
by the force of an awakened enthusiasm. Instead 
of possessing ideas, ideas must possess him and 
push him on to realization. 

We have cause to be thankful that a new interest 
has been awakened in behalf of better rural con- 
ditions. The horizon of the rural minister is being 
broadened and the responsibility of his position pre- 
sents opportunity so commanding that it ought to 
challenge the service of our most gifted men en- 
tering the ministry. The country is surely coming 
into recognition of its opportunity. 

There is no danger of its being magnified beyond 
its importance among the contributing forces in a 
progressive church. This is especially true in 
western rural conditions, for the reason that they 
are in the plastic stage, unbiased by sectarian preju- 
dice and untrammelled by denominational rivalry. 
190 



RURAL CONDITIONS IN THE WEST 

But efficiency must be the watchword of the country 
minister. Without a winning personality and quali- 
ties of leadership, he had better look elsewhere for 
a vineyard to cultivate. 

Our faith is still in the church as the only or- 
ganization capable of making these western rural 
conditions what they ought to be in high ideals, 
more attractive homes, sounder health and broader 
lives. 

" This job of leadership requires the wisdom of 
the serpent and the tenderness of the dove. Gen- 
eralities have no place in its success. Concrete 
cases and definite results mean victory. Volley fir- 
ing sounds like big business. Sharpshooting is the 
deadly thing. The first concern of the country 
minister should be the awakening and developing 
of religious life in the individual and the home; not 
religion for the sake of religion, but religion for 
the sake of character and righteousness. By this 
time the church should have outgrown evangelism 
through emotional appeal, and ought to be attain- 
ing standards of conduct and home training that 
will make the highest religious life the normal, and 
the mean and dishonest and shiftless life the un- 
natural. If the appeal of religion is weakened it is 
because the individual sense of right and wrong has 
become confused. If the church has lost its power 
it is because the home has lost its religion. The 
191 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

country church will be energized as the country 
home is Christianized." {Homiletic Review, May, 
19 10, page 373.) 

Along the foothills of the Bridger range we 
have an example of an ideal country church, that 
has literally revolutionized the moral condition 
of a whole community. This settlement was called 
the " hillers " by those who lived on lower lands. 
These " hillers " had an unenviable reputation as 
godless and wicked. Into this hill settlement there 
came a minister over sixty years of age, who had 
a vision of future possibilities. The hills produced 
rich harvests and the farmers were generally pros- 
perous. A church was organized and worship con- 
ducted in a school house for five years. Then the 
people rose up and built a beautiful and commodious 
house for worship. The membership constantly in- 
creased. The church became the centre of religious 
and social life, illustrating the truth that religious 
and social conditions must go together. Before the 
organization of the church, Sunday was as any 
other day of the week. Ploughing, sowing, reaping 
and threshing went on just the same as any other 
day. The few church members were in sore straits 
in the threshing season. If their turn should come 
on the Sabbath, they were compelled to accept it, 
or be put down at the bottom of the list and thus 
be indefinitely postponed. The difficulty was fin- 
ally met by a combination of Christians buying a 
192 



RURAL CONDITIONS IN THE WEST 

threshing machine of their own. It proved to be 
a very successful undertaking and came to be called 
the " Sunday threshing machine," because it rested 
on the Sabbath. At first it was a contemptuous 
designation, but in time commanded respect akin to 
reverence. It proved to be the beginning of almost 
universal Sabbath observance in that neighborhood. 
There are now only a few families who do not at- 
tend regularly divine worship. 

All this has been accomplished largely through 
the influence of one man, after he passed what is 
commonly supposed to be the ministerial dead line. 
If asked the secret of his success, he would not 
hesitate to tell you that it is the prayer of the right- 
eous and untiring perseverance. Spiritual vision 
and consecrated service were and still are the im- 
pelling forces of this successful minister among the 
" hillers." 

Yes, the country church still has its mission. 
May it not have a brighter future than in the past ? 
The present interest in its welfare indicates larger 
possibilities to be realized. Give us consecrated 
leadership, and a new era of the country church is 
well begun. 

" The prospects and results in the rural parish 
present infinitely greater possibilities than the aver- 
age city church with its secretly aggravating limita- 
tions to a man's full exercise of his ability and 
proper scope. The lure of the city has been to 
193 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

many ministers a snare and delusion, filled with a 
mixture of small and seeming success, loss of some 
fundamental elements of manhood, trimming and 
disappointment. The lure of the country looms up 
larger and gives him free and full scope for all 
there is in a man, developed and latent. " Back to 
the country" should be the slogan of the church, 
for on its fulfillment depends the foundation of city 
and church vitality, of national prosperity, and of 
candidates for the ministry. Let no one imagine 
that the country will be overrun with ministers in 
such a movement, for only those choice spirits with 
a vision, enterprise, determination, and a heart de- 
siring to be of unselfish usefulness in a great and 
crying cause will respond to the call. The open 
country neds and beckons to men, spelled large. 
The rewards are gradual, sure and as broad and full 
as life itself, both in this world and eternity." 
(Bulletin of the Western Theological Seminary, 
April, 191 2, page 11.) 

When rural population fails to make its full con- 
tribution to national character and the spiritual 
forces of the church, we shall lose one of the most 
effective sources of supply for religious propaga- 
tion. 

The great problem of home missions is the task 
of re-invigorating village and country churches in 
the East, and stimulating their organization and 
equipment in the West. 

194 



RURAL CONDITIONS IN THE WEST 

About three-fifths of our population still live in 
districts of less than 2,500 inhabitants. A very- 
great percentage of ministerial supply, and a very 
large proportion of religious leaders in cities, are 
from the village and rural surroundings. 

For this reason the rurahproblem is one of the 
most vital in the whole catalogue of Christian en- 
deavour. The rural church indicates a centre of in- 
terest in the onward movements along the lines of 
progressive work in advancing the Kingdom of 
God, and the upbuilding of national righteousness. 



195 



CHAPTER IX 
RECREATION HOURS 

FOR scenery and enjoyment, for health and 
recreation, for all that delights the lover of 
the outdoors, where can one go for that 
which is more satisfying and inspiring than up and 
down the canyons and flower covered slopes of the 
Rockies? There is an unspeakable charm to an 
outdoor life amidst the great variety of panoramic 
beauty, a trip in the mountains affords to those who 
have taste and appreciation of nature's wildness, 
unadorned by the touch of human hand. 

Since engaged exclusively in missionary field 
work, the writer has had little time for pleasure 
trips. When a pastor I always had my summer 
vacations. While they are not denied me now, yet 
for the last five years, work has been so pressing, 
that I have not left it for even two or three weeks' 
outing. I have been limited to two or three days' 
time when my work happened to call so near a 
mountain stream, that its irresistible and tempting 
invitation was too strong for my power of resist- 
ance. There is something indescribably charming 
196 



RECREATION HOURS 

in a mountain stream. When riding through the 
canyons on the cars, I always have a longing to 
change my plush covered seat for one on the rock, 
around which whirls and swirls foaming waters. 
The eye never gets weary in watching the curls and 
eddies and waves as they dance over their rocky 
bottoms. There is that kind of fascination that 
soothes the mind, while kept in activity, like the 
activity of the running water; it stirs to action, but 
is tireless in motion. It produces that kind of in- 
dolence defined by Dr. Henry Van Dyke, as a 
virtue. " It comes from two Latin words, which 
mean freedom from anxiety or grief. And that is 
a wholesome state of mind. There are times and 
seasons when it is even a blessed state of mind. 
Not to be in a hurry ; not to be ambitious or jealous 
or resentful; not to feel envious of anybody; not to 
fret about to-day nor worry about to-morrow, — that 
is the way we all ought to feel at some time of our 
lives; and that is the kind of indolence in which 
our brooks faithfully encourage us." 

These words describe that state of mind often felt 
in the cheerful companionship of mountain streams, 
which have the power to separate from the arti- 
ficial life in the throngs of commerce and trade. 
Here is the land of forgetfulness and delightful 
pleasures, pure as the water flowing from under 
the rock, or the melting snow from yonder 
mountain top. 

197 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

For those who seek the purest air and water, 
scenery unsurpassed, and all that goes to recreate 
tired bodies, overstrained nerves, and weary minds, 
let me recommend Montana, which according to 
Joaquin Miller, has the only classic name among 
the constellation of states. This poetic and most 
appropriate name was familiar to the school boy so 
far back as the time when western Europe was still 
the vague and dim ultima thule. " Nearly all 
the states have Indian names. The few exceptions 
are those named in honour of foreign rulers, and the 
Father of our country, and two or three that are of 
Spanish origin. But here is one that stands apart 
and alone, — distinct even in name as in many his- 
toric incidents, characteristics, soil, products and 
physical features." Such a country is mentally in- 
spiring as well as physically invigorating. Quoting 
again from the same author, " The mountains have 
ever been the bulwark of freedom. Valour is born 
there, virtue is cherished there, and these are the 
seeds of song and story. No land ever yet had a 
literature to endure, that had not these for its 
theme, these offsprings of the pure, sweet atmos- 
phere, and sublime splendour of the mountains ; and 
the more glorious the mountains, the more glorious 
the song and story. Here great men in the glorious 
pursuits of peace laid the foundation stones without 
the cement of blood, and reared a great state of 
material, fresh from the hand of God. There is 



RECREATION HOURS 

nothing in all the history of civilization more pa- 
thetic, more dramatic, than the untold story of the 
Montana veteran. In truth, which ever way you 
turn, whatever you may say of valour and endur- 
ance, whatever you may see in the magnificence of 
nature, be it in river or mountain, lake of fire or 
head-heaved chain of frost, Montana stands match- 
less, peerless and alone, a thousand miles from the 
seas, garmented in silver and gold, a diadem of 
precious stones, a mantle of green or gold about 
her stately figure as the seasons come and go, there 
she stands above the world. Those who stood as 
veterans by the cradle of this stateliest of all the 
sisterhood of states, should have their memory kept 
green in song and story, as among the brave and 
courageous founders who have erected the altar in 
presence of the " shining mountains." 

Flathead, McDonald and Swan Lakes, are all 
pictures of beauty, encased in the very heart of the 
Rocky Mountain range and surrounded by thickly 
timbered forests extending from the lofty peaks of 
Mission range and Kootenai mountains to the 
water's edge, making a frame work of varied and 
exquisite setting, are among the many resorts which 
invite nature lovers and sportsmen. Game of all 
kinds are in the mountains, and fish in the lakes and 
tributary streams; the latter so abundant that the 
law makes no restriction for any season of the 
year. For large game, districts near or adjacent 
199 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

to the Yellowstone National Park afford the best 
hunting of any place in the state. There they have 
become plentiful through protection in the Park, 
and as there is only an imaginary boundary line 
separating the reserve, bear, elk, deer and antelope, 
wander over the line with little regard to danger, 
except that which their natural instincts prompt. 

But in the Northwestern lake country, the skill- 
ful and tireless hunter is richly rewarded in his 
search for big game. Swan lake region especially 
is the paradise of the sportsman. A wagon road 
leads from Flathead Lake to its foot, where it emp- 
ties into the Big Fork River, but beyond that for 
many miles there are only trails which lead into 
thousands of acres of timbered reserve, through 
which here and there flow mountain streams empty- 
ing into the lake, all so full of trout that the fisher- 
man's basket can be filled in a few hours with 
speckled beauties. I well remember my first trip 
to this lake. We were met by an old guide at the 
end of the wagon road with our camping outfit. 
He was a typical man of the woods. When we 
arrived, he was waiting for us with his little scow 
in which were to be packed our camping outfit for 
two weeks. This guide possessed all the virtues 
and vices of his class. The first question on our 
arrival was, "Where is your jug?" It happened 
that we had brought with us a jug of blackberry un- 
fermented wine, for it was really a temperance com- 
200 



RECREATION HOURS 

pany. He was not long however in scenting it. 
He lifted the jug over one arm, pulled the cork out 
and took a smell of its contents. He was not easily- 
fooled and discovered at once the mild character 
of the liquid, and put it down with a disgusted grunt 
and disappointed look, saying in language (a part 
of which I will not repeat) " that stuff is good only 
for women and preachers." He did not know at 
the time that there was a preacher in the company, 
so he spoke truer than he knew. His appetite 
craved for something much stronger, and in such 
mild drinks he had no temptation to indulge. 

The sixteen miles to the head of the lake was 
one continuous panorama of mountain scenery that 
would charm the most unobservant soul into excla- 
mations of delight. What an ideal place for a 
camp ? It was a little knoll some twenty feet above 
the water's edge, with background of gently sloping 
mountain, and foreground of as beautiful a sheet 
of water as ever kissed the sunlight; beyond, the 
Kootenaies lifted their lofty peaks in all the vari- 
gated colouring with which the first frosts of autumn 
tinge the forests. In the sloughs were plenty of 
ducks, in the woods, grouse, deer and bear; in the 
waters the most beautiful fish God ever made. The 
marks of bear were all around us, where the thorn 
bushes were broken down in their efforts to reach 
their favourite berry, but not a bear did we see. 
They are the wildest of game and hardest to find of 
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SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

any in the woods. They are not to be feared, ex- 
cept when wounded or in defence of their young. 

After the second day we had venison, grouse, 
duck and trout on our bill of fare, and for dessert 
wild strawberries gathered near our tent. What 
Isaac Walton said, as quoted by another, that 
" doubtless God could have made a better berry, 
but doubtless God never did," was in reference to 
the wild strawberry, not the cultured one, for. what 
advantage the cultivated strawberry has in size, is 
more than lost in flavor. The description given by 
Dr. Henry Van Dyke, may carry with it much that 
is imagination, but is worthy of frequent quotation, 
" Each one as it touched my lips was a drop of 
nectar and a crumb of ambrosia, a concentrated es- 
sence of all the pungent sweetness of the wildwood, 
sapid, penetrating and delicious. I tasted the odour 
of a hundred blossoms, and the green shimmering 
of innumerable leaves, and the sparkle of sifted 
sunbeams and the breath of highland breezes and 
the song of birds and the murmur of flowing 
streams — all in the wild strawberry." 

Such a feast of good things the gods might envy, 
and along with it the consciousness that none of 
these good things were brought from the store 
around the corner. They were first hand from 
nature's provision for man in the wilderness. 

Because fishermen have been called proverbial 
liars, I hesitate to tell fish stories. When the 
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RECREATION HOURS 

Psalmist said that " all men are liars," he might 
have had in mind this class of men. It has been 
suggested that Peter, fabled to be the gate keeper 
in heaven, being a fisherman himself, will make 
great allowance for fishermen when they apply for 
admittance. At the risk of being considered guilty 
with all the rest, I will relate the results of one 
afternoon's fishing on Flathead Lake, when with two 
others and trolling lines on a steam yacht, we caught 
thirty-three bull trout weighing in all fifty-five 
pounds. After all, this kind of fishing is not that 
which the true sportsman is proud of. It is too 
easy and does not require much skill. It is not to 
be compared to the fascination, as well as skill, on 
the stream with rod and fly. (The grasshopper is 
more attractive, though its use would not be con- 
sidered sportsmanlike.) 

Speaking of lying, let it be said that the sin is 
entirely too common, and is not to be laid always at 
the door of the fisherman. A few years ago, my 
book on " Social Regeneration " was published. I 
had a very close and intimate friend, then occupy- 
ing a very prominent and important political posi- 
tion in our state. He was a member of my church, 
and a regular attendant at the morning service on 
the Sabbath day. I gave him a copy of my book to 
read. Some four weeks later he returned the book 
with thanks, saying that " he had read it with profit 
and pleasure." To my surprise and no little cha- 
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SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

grin, not a leaf, not even the introduction page, had 
been cut. 

After our appointed time we returned down the 
lake, loaded with a great variety of game. One of 
our company was taken sick just as we were leaving 
the camp, and was later given over to the care of 
the good lady who kept a log cabin inn at the foot 
of the lake where we remained over night. She 
was very kind in administering to our unfortunate 
brother, restoratives of an intoxicating character, 
but dealt them out in very small quantities, for she 
mistook the sick man to be the minister, knowing 
that one was in the company she was entertaining. 
The small dose had the effect however of reviving 
our friend to such an extent that he wished for 
more of the same kind, on the supposition that if a 
little would do so much good, a larger dose would 
surely make him well. But she positively refused 
his request for more, saying that she would not be 
guilty of making the minister drunk, for if he had 
not sense enough to exercise judgment for himself, 
she would exercise a little sense for him. This was 
one time our friend regretted being taken for a 
minister, however much honour the title might do 
him. 

The Bitter Root Valley is a noted and popular re- 
sort for recreation hours. It is no less remarkable 
for its agricultural interests, and especially for 
apples and other fruits. It has an ideal climate 
204 



RECREATION HOURS 

and rich soil; well watered by the many mountain 
streams which flow into it from the Bitter Root 
range on the west, and the less abrupt Hellgate 
range on the east. From this valley are shipped 
annually thousands of car loads of the far-famed 
Red Mcintosh apples, to adorn the tables of the 
most fashionable hotels in the East, and in fact 
sent across the sea to London and other Euro- 
pean cities. The little mountain streams from 
either side of the valley, pitch abruptly from the 
canyons and feed the Bitter Root, extending south- 
ward a hundred miles from the city of Missoula. 
The river itself is the place to fish for the big three 
pound cut-throat trout, but the tributaries have 
plenty of good fish and afford pleasure and exhila- 
ration for the sportsman. 

On a certain occasion when buying a railroad 
ticket at Pony, Montana, the agent, R. F. Welliver, 
began reciting a classic poem, on the picturesque 
" Bitter Root Valley," where he had been on a 
recent visit. It awakened his poetic genius, ex- 
pressed in the following lines, which contain more 
truth than vision. 

"There's a fabled land somewhere in the West, 
Where all is joy and man is blessed, 
Where the Hesperian Gardens their beauties unfold, 
Bright trees of silver, bearing apples of gold, 
Tis the Bitter Root. 

Rasselas, the prince of happy valley fame, 
Whose search to get out was silly and vain, 
S05 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

If Dr. Johnson had placed in the fair Bitter Root, 
His royal " nibs " would have made no effort to scoot 
From the Bitter Root. 

'Tis said St. Peter binds the Missourian with a chain 
To keep him from going back to Missouri again, 
If in the Bitter Root he had heaved his last sigh, 
He would need a steel cage built strong and high, 
To keep him 1 from going back to the Bitter Root. 

Montana has many rare gems in her crown, 
Brilliants of world-wide fame and renown, 
Fields of golden grain, mountains of copper, silver and gold, 
But the fairest jewel her diadems hold, 
Is the Bitter Root. 

If a few years ago I had bought Bitter Root dirt, 
I might, now in a " Buzzer " ride and with dame fortune flirt, 
Have mushrooms on my beefsteak, pockets full of cash, 
My women folks togged out in silks cutting a big dash, 
In the Bitter Root. 

If there is a land that is fairer than this, 
'Tis over the great divide in the realms of bliss. 
The half to me had never been told, 
Of the Mcintosh orchards bearing apples of gold, 
In the Bitter Root." 

But the choice of all the streams in Montana is 
the Big Black foot. None to me are so fascinating 
or possess such a variety of interests for the pleas- 
ure seeker. Here you will find the big salmon, 
rainbow and cut-throat trout in great abundance. 
It undoubtedly furnishes the best fishing on the 
western slope of the main range of the Rockies in 
Montana. The railroads have not yet invaded its 
seclusion, although at present writing one is pushing 
its iron rails up this valley. Miss May Ellis, has 
206 



RECREATION HOURS 

written in song a description of the Black foot as 
seen with a poet's eye. The last two verses are 
descriptive of the coming of the iron horse and the 
laying of the iron rails. 

" THE BLACKFOOT." 

" 'Neath a sky like an arch of turquoise, 
You ripple and laugh and sing, 
And time sleeps to your music, 
Folding his idle wing. 
The wind in the pines is singing 
A melody soft and low — 
Sings thro' the dream of the lonely stream 
A song of the long ago. 

The Indian's campfires smoulder 

By nooks where the grey trout sleep, 

The deer's wide antlers are lifted 

From the alder thickets deep, 

The far-off call of the night bird, 

Floats in thro' the tepee door, 

Where the braves asleep in the shadows deep 

Follow the chase once more. 

The faint perfume of the wild rose 

Steals far thro' the silent night, 

The mists drape the mountain's bosom 

With a veil of bridal white, 

The silver spears of the moonlight 

Break 'gainst the cliff's grey wall 

While the river leaps o'er its rocky steeps 

And sings as it nears the fall. 

Oh, wide free stretch of the prairie : 
Oh, pines where the night winds sigh: 
The smoky finger of commerce 
Is writing your doom on the sky. 
The soft grey mists are lifting 
From the mountains the dusky face, 
207 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

From the lofty brow that soon shall bow 
'Neath the yoke of an alien race. 

The peaceful hush of your forests, 

The wild flowers' garlands of bloom, 

The velvet robes of your mountains 

Shall sink 'neath an asphalt tomb. 

The scream of the slaver's whistles 

Shall silence the night bird's call, 

And Mammon's chains as he counts his gains 

Shall bind the land in thrall." 

For forty years or more it has been the favourite 
fishing and hunting region with lovers of sport. 
It is reached on the eastern side from Helena, dis- 
tant sixty miles, by crossing the main divide. The 
trip over the range from Helena is of itself worth 
a long journey. Both sides of the mountain are 
thickly timbered, except here and there, where there 
are slopes and bench lands, some under cultivation, 
but mostly used for pasture, and where flowers 
grow of a hundred or more varieties in such pro- 
digality as to make these slopes look like rich gar- 
dens, whose fragrance is wafted on the winds for 
many miles. 

Speaking of fragrant wild flowers, the geolo- 
gists inform us (whether they are correct or not I 
do not know) that all the eras of the earth's history 
previous to the Micene period, were destitute of 
perfumes. "Forests of club mosses and ferns, hid 
in their sombre bosom no bright-eyed floweret, 
and shed from verdant boughs no scented richness 
on the passing breeze. Palms and cycads, though 
208 



RECREATION HOURS 

ushering in the dawn of a brighter floral day, pro- 
duced no perfume breathing blossoms. But when 
it came to the period of man's birth, he was placed 
in a sweet scented garden as his home. It was 
adorned with labiate flowers, exhaling a rich aro- 
matic fragrance." 

However true the above theory, we do know that 
now there is a fragrance in the breath of the woods 
and wild flowers, that throws a charm and fascina- 
tion about the mountain's presence. As you near 
the higher elevation and approach the summit of 
the Rockies between Helena and the Blackfoot in 
the month of June, you will see acres of bear- 
tooth, with its cone-like shape, spread out before 
you like a white sheet of most exquisite blossoms. 

Along the Blackfoot are many choice places for 
camping, by springs sending forth their waters cold 
as ice and pure as can possibly be found or pro- 
duced any place in this beautiful world God has 
made for us to enjoy. There is something morally 
elevating in such an atmosphere and surroundings. 
In the presence of such entrancing scenery the soul 
is lifted up to its Creator. The strength and tower- 
ing majesty of the hills exalts the Maker and 
humbles man, but brings him into friendly rela- 
tions with the source of all power. 

Humility is a very desirable grace. Pride goeth 
before a fall. Ministers above all others need to 
learn this lesson, and if it cannot be learned in pres- 
209 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

ence of Creative power as witnessed in God's handi- 
work, we are apt to learn it through experience, 
when our conceit gets the better of us. 

The following incident is an illustration from 
personal experience. I was spending a part of my 
vacation in Spokane, where I had an appointment 
to supply a pulpit for two Sabbaths. While stop- 
ping at the hotel, I made the acquaintance of a 
resident of the city, but who was at the time stop- 
ping at the same place. We became quite friendly, 
and one Sabbath morning I invited him to go to 
church with me, which invitation he kindly ac- 
cepted. In the afternoon, I met him in the lobby 
of the hotel, when he took my hand and thanked 
me for that very excellent sermon and pronounced 
it in his judgment the very best he had heard since 
he came to the city. I could not help but feel con- 
siderably elated at such a compliment from a man 
whose intelligence would make him a good judge of 
a sermon. But after he had inflated my balloon of 
self-esteem, with the gas of unmerited praise, he 
suddenly punctured it and let it all out by inform- 
ing me, that it was the first and only sermon he had 
heard since he came to Spokane. 

Another incident of a very different character, 
happened during one of my vacations on the 
Black foot. It was my custom to preach on the 
Sabbath in the little school house, which was the 
only religious service held in that part of the coun- 
210 



RECREATION HOURS 

try for several years. I thus became acquainted 
with a good Christian family living on the west 
side of the valley through whose ranch flowed 
a small stream out of the mountains near by. I 
was invited to dinner in this home, during the week 
with a view of becoming better acquainted and 
spending a part of the time fishing. I found it to be 
a very interesting family and a genuine Christian 
home. The father had been in the habit of holding 
a Sunday-school in his own house, composed of his 
family, consisting of two girls and one boy. They 
had lesson papers and kept in touch with the Inter- 
national series of Bible study. After dinner I took 
my basket and rod and went out for an hour or two 
of fishing. The little boy, eight years of age, re- 
quested the privilege of going with me, and of 
course the request was readily granted. My first 
cast was a very successful one. With a little sur- 
prise the boy looked up and said, " Well I guess you 
can fish as well as preach." It was truly an ideal 
stream for fishing, and after I had caught as many 
as desired, we sat down together on a rock by the 
water's edge, for a little social chat. The boy said 
to me in a very confidential tone and sincere man- 
ner, " Doctor, did you know that I am going to be 
a preacher some day when I get big?" I asked him 
when he had reached that decision. He replied, 
" Two years ago when I was converted at the serv- 
ice you held in our school house," I had no knowl- 

211 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

edge of his conversion at the time, but he insisted 
that he became a Christian on that occasion and de- 
cided he would be a minister. I was very much im- 
pressed with the sincerity of his manner and wis- 
dom beyond his years, and on making further in- 
quiry was convinced that it was more than a child- 
ish fancy. 

I have kept in touch with that boy ever since. 
He has never swerved or wavered from his deter- 
mination and is now pursuing his studies with a 
view of entering the ministry. If my life is spared 
long enough I expect to see and hear him in the pul- 
pit. And thus the seed is sown. It takes root in 
unexpected places. In recreation hours and busy 
days, unconsciously we are witnessing for the 
Master. 

I have spoken of the wild flowers on the moun- 
tains. Before I close this chapter I want to speak 
of a bird whose friendship for mountain streams 
and waterfalls is such that we never fail to hear 
and see him on our vacation trips along the water- 
ways of canyon and valley. It is the Ouzel or 
Water Thrush. Dark days and sunny days are 
all the same to him. His voice suffers no winter 
of eclipse. He sings through all the seasons and 
every kind of weather. John Muir, calls him " the 
mountain streams' own darling," the humming bird 
of blooming waters, loving rocky, rippling slopes 
and sheets of foam as a bee loves flowers, as a lark 

212 



RECREATION HOURS 

loves sunshine and meadows. " Among all the 
mountain birds none are so cheery, so unfailingly 
happy and full of song. Both in winter and sum- 
mer he sings, sweetly, cheerily, independent, alike 
in winter and summer, in sunshine and cloud, re- 
quiring no other inspiration than the stream on 
which he dwells. While water sings, so must he, 
in heat and cold, calm and storm, ever attuning 
his voice in sweet accord; low in the drought of 
summer and the cold of winter, but never silent." 

To-night, we sit around the campfire near our 
tent. The full moon comes up from beyond the 
mountain and looks down on us with beaming face. 
We hear the song of the waterfalls rushing over the 
boulder bottoms, mingling with the sound of cas- 
cades half a mile away; the tall yellow pines bow- 
ing their heads gracefully in the evening breeze, 
and the brooding spirit of the valley, with a chorus 
of subdued sounds ; all these possess the soul, under 
a canopy of stars. 

To-morrow, we lift our stakes, fold our tents, 
and return to the sterner duties of life, which have 
been cast off for a time. We are sadly conscious 
that this is only a resting place, a quiet hour of 
preparation. Our tabernacles are to be built amidst 
the throng and busy marts of trade, where the fever 
of strenuous exertion, cares and worries of life need 
the comforting, controlling and uplifting influence 
of infinite compassion and Divine love. 
213 



CHAPTER X 
LEAVES FROM MY DIARY AND NOTE BOOK 

ON my first trip as field missionary, I met on 
the train a brother minister and veteran in 
similar work. For twenty years he had 
been travelling through the state, his zeal and en- 
thusiasm increasing with his years. Knowing of 
my appointment to this new field of service, he 
took my hands, congratulating me in the great 
opportunity for usefulness, with assurance that the 
work would prove to be a surprising means of grace. 
After these years of actual experience his prophecy 
has come true, for I can now testify that my vision 
has been enlarged, the spiritual horizon broadened, 
and service for the Master more inspiring and en- 
joyable than ever before. I have found more real 
hardships than in the regular pastorate and much 
less material compensation, but the assurance that I 
have been used in a larger and broader service, has 
more than compensated for any sacrifice made 
through the deprivation of home comforts and in- 
conveniences which must necessarily be met by the 
travelling missionary. 

214 



LEAVES FROM MY DIARY AND NOTE BOOK 

This closing chapter of an imperfect and to the 
writer an unsatisfactory portrayal of the spiritual 
conquest going on along the Rockies, will be devoted 
to a few brief narratives, incidents and suggestions 
gathered on the field. 

A MONTH'S RECORD 

Jan. I. — The beginning of a new year marks an- 
other mile stone, not only in the years of an 
earthly pilgrimage, but also shows manifest 
progress in the spiritual conquest of a new 
West rapidly filling up with a population whose 
redemption is imperative. 

Jan. 2. — Enjoying a few days' rest and quiet medi- 
tation and preparation for a series of special 
meetings planned for two months in advance. 

Jan. 6. — The first of a series of meetings at C 

began to-night with a small audience and indi- 
cations of very cold weather. 

Jan. 7. — A cold wave struck us, interfering very 
seriously with our meetings. Twenty degrees 
below zero last night, and holding on with in- 
dications of lower temperature. 

Jan. 8. — Larger attendance in spite of cold weather 
and increasing interest. 

Jan. 9. — Cold wave continues, but larger audience, 
yet apparent lack of spiritual feeling. Had 
five invitations for meals to-day, but as I can- 
215 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

not stand more than three and can get along 
very well on two, was under the necessity of 
declining some of them. When one preaches 
every night, he would rather be excused from 
social duties. The kindness of these Western 
people surprises me more and more, as I go 
through different parts of the state. Also I 
find the general standard of morality higher 
than was supposed. Back of rough exteriors 
there are big and generous hearts. The king- 
dom of God is coming where we suspect it not, 
in the still, small voice of growing goodness. 

Jan. 10. — Twenty-two degrees below zero last 
night. Sinners are not flocking towards the 
church in great numbers, but to-night we were 
made glad by two remaining for the inquiry 
meeting at close of service. 

Jan. 12. — A clear, bright Sabbath day with sunshine. 
It has been a day of great blessing and spir- 
itual uplift. The evening meeting was char- 
acterised by intense spiritual interest. After 
the sermon a young man of high social stand- 
ing and influence, who had been a church mem- 
ber before he came West, but who had fallen 
into the ways of the world, came forward, put 
his hand on my shoulder in a friendly way, 
confessing that he had been living a fast and 
loose life, but was now determined to be a bet- 
ter man. 

216 



LEAVES FROM MY DIARY AND NOTE BOOK 

Jan. 13. — Monday evening small attendance, but 
deep interest prevailed. 

Jan. 14. — Largest attendance of any meeting since 
the beginning but no marked results. 

Jan. 15. — Seventy-five persons at the meeting to- 
night, which may seem very small, but when 
we consider that the town has a population of 
less than four hundred, it represents an au- 
dience for which to be thankful. 

Jan. 16. — Closing meeting with reception of ten 
new members on profession of faith in Christ. 
Closed with the largest attendance of any of 
the meetings. Many regrets expressed that 
they could not be continued another week. It 
takes nearly two weeks' meetings before the 
people become aroused and awakened to such 
opportunities offered in special efforts of this 
kind. 

Jan. 17. — All day on the cars going to another ap- 
pointment for the Sabbath. Another cold 

wave has come. Landed at M station, 

where there is nothing but a section house. 
No one to meet me. Had to walk three miles 
into the country to find entertainment, facing 
a fearful blizzard all the way. 

Jan. 18. — Saturday a day of rest in the home of 

a Scotch elder whose hospitality is free and 

cordial. On the banks of the Yellowstone, 

his little home of three rooms, is like a street 

217 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

car, always room for one more. For me the 
latch string has always been out, and a hearty 
welcome on all occasions. 
Jan. 19. — Sunday morning very cold. Thermom- 
eter registers forty-two degrees below zero. 
We drove three miles to the school house, 
where we were to hold service, and where we 
organized a church three months before of fif- 
teen members, all ranchers and their families. 
When we reached the school house there was 
no fire. It seemed like a very cold reception, 
and imagination was not required to be very 
vivid to make it more than seeming. It was 
the real thing. This is the coldest weather I 
have ever experienced in this or any other coun- 
try. Some consolation in the fact, as they tell 
us, that such cold weather never lasts more 
than two or three days. One day would fully 
satisfy me. Yet this I must say, that I have 
suffered more from cold in San Francisco in 
the month of August than I suffer here in this 
low temperature. There is perfect stillness in 
the atmosphere, and the smoke from the chim- 
neys ascends straight towards the sky without 
a waver. We soon had the school house com- 
fortably warm. Twenty-three persons came 
to the service. At the conclusion of the ser- 
mon, I announced that on account of the se- 
vere weather, we would cancel our appointment 
218 



LEAVES FROM MY DIARY AND NOTE BOOK 

for the evening. Some of the young people 
spoke out in the meeting, saying that they 
were coming to the Christian Endeavour meet- 
ting anyhow. I took it as rather a rebuke to 
my weakness, so I told them if they could 
come, I could also. To my surprise, in the 
evening there were thirty present, which was 
certainly a good congregation under such 
weather conditions. One family came five 
miles and had no complaint to make about cold 
weather. 

At the conclusion of this service I rode three 
miles to the station, where I had to take the 
train at four o'clock the next morning to reach 
my next appointment. The only sleeping ac- 
commodation I had was on the dining-room ta- 
ble at the section house. But I was thankful 
for that, as I had plenty of fuel and a stove by 
my side to keep me warm. 

Jan. 20. — Arrived at G early in the afternoon, 

where I had to stay all night to get the stage 
next morning which left at seven o'clock. 

Jan. 21. — Rode thirty-five miles by stage and reached 
my destination at two o'clock in the afte r noon. 
It was really a very pleasant ride through a 
very interesting country. A Chinook wind 
prevailed raising the temperature to twenty- 
five degrees above zero. These Chinook winds 
nearly always follow a cold spell of weather, 
219 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

which are a puzzle to the Weather Bureau and 
scientists generally. I have seen a foot of 
snow melt away in eight hours. We cannot 
tell whence they come nor whither they go. 

Jan. 22. — F is a small town and new, with few 

and very poor accommodations. The only 
place I could find for entertainment, was in a 
lumber yard office, through the kindness of the 
clerk, who allowed me to share his bedroom, 
which was used for office as well. Held serv- 
ice two nights with encouragement to organize 
a church later in the season. 

Jan. 24. — Rode twenty-five miles farther on to a 
country village where I am to preach and ad- 
minister the Lord's Supper. We have in B 

a nice church building with thirty members, 
who last year raised seven hundred dollars for 
support of their minister. At the present time 
the church is without a pastor. Found de- 
lightful and hospitable entertainment at the 
home of Elder B , who is a well-to-do far- 
mer, living two miles from the village. 

Jan. 2j. — A beautiful Sabbath morning, moderately 
warm. Preached in the morning to an audi- 
ence that filled the church to the extent of its 
seating capacity. Received two new members 
and administered the Lord's Supper to as in- 
telligent congregation as can be found any- 
.where. 

220 



LEAVES FROM MY DIARY AND NOTE BOOK 

Jan. 28. — A friend took me to the railroad ten 
miles distant. Crossed the Missouri River on 
the ice. Boarded the train for my home five 
hundred miles away, where I knew loving ones 
were anxiously waiting my coming and I was 
none the less anxious to see them. 

Jan. 29. — Reached home after an absence of four 
weeks. Think I never lacked appreciation of 
the blessings of home, but after such a trip as 
just described, it seems a little more precious 
than when it is an uninterrupted enjoyment. 

A TYPICAL WESTERN TOWN 

The town of Three Forks is being built on one 
of the most historic spots in Montana. In the jour- 
nal of Lewis and Clark, when on their exploration 
trip in 1805, there is written the following record. 
" The southeast fork we call Gallatin's river, in 
honour of Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treas- 
ury; the middle fork we call Madison's river, in 
honour of James Madison, Secretary of State; and 
the southwest fork, we call Jefferson's river, in 
honour of that illustrious personage, Thomas Jef- 
ferson, President of trie United States." 

The meeting place of these three rivers, which 

form the headwaters of the Missouri, is not only 

rich in historic incidents, but also one of the most 

beautiful spots along the Rockies. More than a 

221 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

century has passed since the encampment of the 
Lewis and Clark exploring party on this historic 
spot. 

I am now writing in a hotel, named after Saca- 
jawea, the Indian girl guide, who next to Lewis 
and Clark themselves did more than any one person 
toward making this expedition a success. 

Sacajawea, the "Little Bird Woman" as she 
was afterwards called, was a Shoshonee Indian girl 
who had been captured by the Blackfoot Indians, 
and taken East to the Mandan country five years 
before Lewis and Clark found her. She was res- 
cued by them, and became their faithful guide and 
was brought back to her native country. She was of 
invaluable help, for to her natural shrewdness and 
wisdom, the success of the expedition is largely due. 
Sacajawea lived the last part of her life on the 
Wind River Reservation and died April 9th, 1884, 
almost one hundred years old. There was erected 
in Portland, Oregon, in 1905, a splendid statue of 
the " Little Bird Woman " Princess of the Sho- 
shonees. 

Three Forks in years past was Indian battle- 
ground. Here numerous Indian trails centred, 
and the tribes gathered and camped, preparatory 
to going on their big buffalo hunts at certain sea- 
sons of the year. If the hills and plains hereabouts 
could speak of those wild days, when the wigwams 
of the Indians were the only dwellings in this beau- 
222 



LEAVES FROM MY DIARY AND NOTE BOOK 

tiful valley of the " Shining Mountains," what 
thrilling tales they could tell ? 

Great changes have taken place in the last 
few years. Two transcontinental railroads pass 
through this valley, and only four years ago, Sep- 
tember, 1908, the little city of Three Forks was 
christened, and is growing amidst these historic as- 
sociations. Near Three Forks three other small 
rivers empty into the Jefferson, which Lewis and 
Clark called, Wisdom, Philosophy and Philan- 
thropy, also in honour of President Jefferson, whom 
they said, was " the embodiment of these virtues." 
For some unexplainable reason, these rivers since 
have been called Willow Creek, Big Hole, and 
Ruby. 

The town was located about one mile West of 
where the three rivers join to form the Missouri. 
It received its impetus by the Chicago, Milwaukee & 
St. Paul Railroad, making it a division point for 
both passenger and freight trains. It was the writ- 
er's privilege to conduct the first religious service 
held in the new town four years ago. At that 
time there were about one dozen buildings 
mostly for business and saloons. The people lived 
in tents. There were thirteen saloons opened be- 
fore the town had a population of three hundred. 
They have since been reduced to eight, and the 
council refuses to license any more. 

I came into this town Saturday morning, and at 
223 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

once began looking around for some place to hold 
religious service on the coming Sabbath. Fortu- 
nately I found an empty store-room, that was to be 
opened for business the next Monday. Some boxes 
of goods were already stored there, and the flour 
was covered with shavings and debris the carpen- 
ters had left. Providentially I found a good Chris- 
tian man, who was a contractor, engaged in 
building houses, and several others working under 
him, all favourably disposed in assisting my prepa- 
rations for religious service. Empty boxes were 
found and placed each side of the room. Boards 
were put on the boxes for seats. After these prepa- 
rations were finished, I visited the tents, the few 
stores already doing business and also the saloons, 
and gave them all a personal invitation to attend the 
meeting. There were only a few women in the 
town and the audience Sabbath morning was com- 
posed of thirty-five men and four women. There 
is an indefinable fascination about these new towns, 
composed mostly of young people full of hope and 
energy. This one especially, entwined by rivers 
and circled by mountains snow-covered many 
months in the year, appealed to my sympathy and 
interest as few others have in my experience. I 
made arrangements to visit them once a month. 
Our chief difficulty was in finding a place to hold 
our service, for as yet there was no school house or 
hall of any kind where an audience could be as- 
224 



LEAVES FROM MY DIARY AND NOTE BOOK 

sembled. New store rooms were being built and 
our services were generally held wherever an 
empty room could be found. On my fourth visit 
I started out to raise money to build a little chapel. 
The people had small means to assist in such an 
undertaking, but I succeeded in raising about four 
hundred dollars and begged some three hundred 
more from friends East and West, from near and 
far. In six weeks we had our little Chapel ready 
for service. 

While canvassing the town for money, I visited 
a lady whose husband was a leading saloon keeper. 
She subscribed ten dollars, and requested me to call 
on her husband and tell him to give the same 
amount. This request I complied with and called 
on him in his saloon, at the time full of men drink- 
ing, playing cards and having a good time generally. 
I called the proprietor to one side and made known 
my business. He very willingly subscribed the 
same amount as his wife. I said to him however, 
that I would have him distinctly understand that ac- 
cepting his subscription in no sense meant any com- 
promise with his business, and that the church stood 
for temperance and sobriety. He gave me a very 
interesting look and asked for the subscription pa- 
per, which I surmised was for the purpose of eras- 
ing his name and withdrawing his subscription. In 
taking the paper, he said to me, " Parson, I guess 
you are kind of white," and to my surprise put 
225 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

down ten dollars more, went to his money drawer 
and paid it in cash. 

On the opening day of our little chapel, we organ- 
ized a church of twelve members. To illustrate the 
transient character of the population in a town of 
this type, one year later all but two of these mem- 
bers had left for other parts of the country. Others 
however came in to take their place. The town 
has been steadily advancing and has now a popula- 
tion of about twelve hundred, with two bank build- 
ings, three lumber yards, a high-school building, 
and the Sacajawea Hotel, costing nearly fifty thou- 
sand dollars, having all the modern conveniences, 
such as are found in hotels in the large cities. The 
town has electric light, cement side-walks, a water 
and sewer system underway, a branch railroad run- 
ning through the far famed Gallatin Valley to Boze- 
man, and another being built as a branch line to 
Helena, and every indication that in a few years 
there will be a population of five thousand people. 
The little chapel was soon overcrowded. An addi- 
tion has been finished, giving a seating capacity of 
one hundred and fifty. Another denomination was 
organized later, but so far has no church building. 
The promising future justifies another organization. 
Preparations are being made for a more pretentious 
building the coming summer. 

To the stranger, and one not acquainted with 
western conditions, this little city seems crude and 
226 



LEAVES FROM MY DIARY AND NOTE BOOK 

rough as he looks at the small cottages and two- 
roomed houses, but a closer observation fascinates, 
because of the buoyant, energetic and wide-awake 
spirit of its citizens. Everything indicates that in 
a short time we shall have here, not only a self-sup- 
porting church, but one contributing largely to the 
extension of the Christian cause throughout the 
world. 

AN ISOLATED COMMUNITY 

Clarke's Fork River, on leaving the Yellowstone 
Park Reserve, breaks through a canyon twenty-five 
miles long. Below the mouth of the canyon, there 
is a valley from five to ten miles wide, extending 
down the river several miles, where the mountains 
reach out an arm cut in two by the swift running 
water. In this valley, shut in by the mountains on 
every side, about fifty families have taken home- 
steads, attracted by the fertility of the soil and fine 
climate. The nearest railroad station is twenty-five 
miles distant. A few are settlers of an early date, 
but most of them are recent comers in this pictur- 
esque valley. They came from the Middle States 
and were accustomed to religious privileges in their 
former homes. Being so far from railroads, the 
raising of alfalfa hay, is the chief business of the 
ranchmen. This finds a ready market among the 
sheep and cattle men who herd large flocks in this 
western corner of Wyoming. Cody is the county 
227 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

seat, thirty-five miles distant, and most of the year 
the road is impassable on account of unbridged rivers 
and deep snow. Their mail comes from the Mon- 
tana side three times a week. Being so isolated in 
this corner of the mountains, they are cut off from 
all centres of thickly settled communities. Only a 
few tourists find this lonely, but beautiful spot 
among the mountains. A few fishermen have dis- 
covered it to be a sportsman's paradise. The settle- 
ment is not large enough to support a town, nor even 
a blacksmith shop, but they have a postoffice. 
Uncle Sam never neglects the remotest subjects of 
his kingdom. 

The postofHce is at the end of the stage route, 
in a large log house, where the occasional traveller 
and in certain seasons sportsmen are entertained. 
These settlers being mostly Christian people, at first 
keenly felt the deprivation of religious worship 
for here they were too thinly settled and scattered 
to sustain even a Sabbath-school. 

On one of my missionary trips I met a ranch- 
man from this settlement, who was on his annual 
visit to the nearest town and railroad station 
to buy supplies for the winter. From him I 
learned of this community and received a most 
pressing invitation to visit them and conduct a re- 
ligious service in their school house. I was very 
much impressed with his earnest desire to have me 
do something for them in a religious way. He told 
228 



LEAVES FROM MY DIARY AND NOTE BOOK 

me that for more than a year they had not seen a 
minister or missionary in that part of the country. 
I then resolved to make them a visit on the first oc- 
casion I could spare from pressing engagements. 

It was about six months later when I found the 
opportunity to visit them. It was a long and dusty 
ride in the heat of summer. The stage route led 
along or near the river through a very interesting 
though rugged country. The mistress of the only 
house where entertainment could be furnished, was 
a good Christian woman, a splendid cook and 
very neat housekeeper. It being in mid-summer, 
garden vegetables were ripe, and they were certainly 
prepared in a style that would quicken even an ordi- 
nary appetite. The good lady appreciated my visit, 
for it was a rare privilege to entertain a minister 
in her home. Not only vegetables of great variety, 
but fried spring chicken, for which ministers have 
some reputation, were a part of the menu. 

The following incident which occurred after 
supper is evidence of some special attention she gave 
me. Two fishermen from Billings were there 
spending a short vacation. After supper, we 
were sitting in the yard, talking over the day's 
catch and the rattlesnakes killed and those seen 
and not killed, the big fish that got away and so on. 
One of them said to me, "Parson, we had good 
living before you came, but no fried chicken, and 
if your presence will bring forth such meals, I will 
229 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

willingly pay your boarding the rest of the week." 

The postoffice being in her house, we did not 
have much difficulty in notifying the neighbourhood 
of the religious service to be held the following 
Sabbath. 

It is seldom the privilege of the preacher to ad- 
dress a more interesting congregation than was 
gathered in that log school house on this occasion. 
Two families came seven miles in a big wagon, 
loaded with others they picked up on the way. The 
school house was crowded to its utmost capacity. 
The inspiring influence of that service to the 
preacher cannot be described in words. It is very 
different from preaching to audiences accustomed 
to hear the Gospel every week. There is an appre- 
ciation and interest that make such a service mu- 
tually helpful to the minister and the people. 

There are many districts in the West similar to 
this one just described, that are without adequate 
Gospel privileges, and in fact without any religious 
service whatever. There is however this difference, 
that many of these communities have settled down 
to stolid indifference and religious apathy, from 
which they are hard to arouse. 

After the service they gathered around me 
with expressions of sincerest thankfulness for my 
coming, and plead for a regular service, pledging 
support as they were able. 

I mention this incident because it presents one 
230 



LEAVES FROM MY DIARY AND NOTE BOOK 

of the problems yet to be solved in furnishing ade- 
quate Gospel privileges to all the people. A regular 
minister in a community like this would have to be 
supported almost entirely by the board of home mis- 
sions. The people are willing to give liberally ac- 
cording to their means, but their ability to give is 
very limited. Furthermore, there is no possibility 
for a community like this one to make much growth 
in the future. In time these new settlers will be 
able to give larger support, but their number will 
increase very little on account of the limited amount 
of land available. 

However arrangements were made for a summer 
service by a student from the seminary and an oc- 
casional visit provided for during the winter sea- 
son. This is the best we have been able to do for 
this isolated community. Since my last visit, a 
church of small membership has been organized and 
all efforts possible have been put forth to give them 
preaching as often as practicable with other duties 
and obligations. How little we know of the de- 
privations of these good people, who for love of a 
home they can call their own, live in this isolation 
and separation from the great centres of population. 
Very few western towns of two hundred popula- 
tion and upwards are without the means of grace, 
or the ministrations of some organized church. 

There are nevertheless many country communi- 
ties of from twenty to fifty families, with post- 
231 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

office and school houses, that have practically no 
religious instruction through the preaching of the 
Word of God. Some are as religiously neglected 
as if in a heathen country. 

How these communities are to have the Gospel 
preached to them, and where the men are to be 
found who will minister to them, remains a prob- 
lem still to be solved by the missionary boards of 
our several churches. 

A JAPANESE PRAYER-MEETING 

When the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 
R. R. was building the Pacific & Puget Sound ex- 
tension through Montana, many Japanese were em- 
ployed. They were generally used for some special 
labour that required a small number of men, such 
as cement work on foundations for water tanks, 
culverts and bridges. The Musselshell River, 
along which the road runs one hundred fifty miles, 
flows through a narrow valley and is crooked as 
the area of the valley will allow, zig-zagging from 
one side to the other. 

It was necessary in obtaining a reasonably 
straight line to build bridges where it was not prac- 
tical to change the channel of the river. The foun- 
dations of these bridges and all the culverts were 
laid in cement. A gang of about twenty-five Jap- 
anese was employed in this kind of work for more 
than a year, with headquarters at Harlowton. 
232 



LEAVES FROM MY DIARY AND NOTE BOOK 

I was frequently called to Harlowton during that 
period, where we had organized a church, but up 
to that date had been unable to secure a minister 
for the field. 

Hearing from various sources, all quite vague 
and indefinite, that the Japanese held a prayer-meet- 
ing every Sabbath evening in their bunkhouse near 
the depot, I determined to investigate and if pos- 
sible discover the facts in the case, though some- 
what sceptical as to the truthfulness of the report. 
The prayer-meeting was said to be held at six-thirty 
in the evening, and as my service was held at eight, 
there was time to attend their meeting before my 
own. I found their headquarters in 'a building 
about sixty by twenty feet, with kitchen at one 
end and dining-hall at the other. It was a tempo- 
rary building covered with tar paper. At both ends 
of this building there were bunkhouses of like con- 
struction with double-deck sleeping berths. On en- 
tering the dining-room, I found two Japs clearing 
away the dishes, their supper having just been fin- 
ished. 

I made inquiry as to whether a prayer-meeting 
was to be held, and if so at what hour. The cook 
could not speak English as well as he could under- 
stand it; our conversation was a little like hearing 
someone talk through a telephone. The cook evi- 
dently understood my question, but could not an- 
swer in my language, so he pointed to a notice 
233 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

written in Japanese letters hung on the side wall of 
the dining-room. The notice to me was about as 
intelligible as chicken scratches. However I noticed 
six-thirty written in figures I could understand, and 
concluded the meeting was to be held at that time. 
In a few minutes a Jap came in from the bunkhouse 
carrying a hymn book and Bible. Soon another 
followed and another until nineteen were seated 
around the dining-room table. One who was a lit- 
tle better dressed than the others (they appeared 
in their working clothes) took his place at the end 
of the table. He proved to be their leader or chap- 
lain, and the only one among them who could 
converse in English. He came to me before the 
meeting commenced and inquired my wish. When 
I told him I was a minister and interested in their 
meeting, he was very cordial and thanked me for 
coming. 

The meeting was conducted as our own ordinary 
prayer-meetings, except as it seemed to me, there 
was more spontaneity and reverence. The leader 
in opening the meeting gave out a hymn and all 
joined heartily in that part of the service. Their 
voices were much more musical than the Chinese 
type and to me were very pleasant and worshipful. 
Their song books and Bibles were printed in Jap- 
anese language. The tunes, and I presume the 
words, were the familiar gospel hymns we com- 
monly use in religious worship. After singing the 
234 



LEAVES FROM MY DIARY AND NOTE BOOK 

opening hymn, the leader made a very short but 
earnest prayer. During the prayer he stood, while 
the rest reverently bowed their heads on the table. 

After the preliminaries the leader read the scrip- 
tures, while the others opened their Bibles and fol- 
lowed the reading throughout. Then the leader 
made a short address, which to one who could not 
understand a word, was impressive on account of 
his earnest manner and devout spirit. At the con- 
clusion of his remarks, I was called upon to speak, 
which I gladly did, but with considerable embar- 
rassment from the fact I was speaking an unknown 
tongue to all but one of my audience. I was very 
brief, simply commending them for their loyalty 
and faithfulness to the religious phase of their life, 
expressing my pleasure in being with them, and 
invited them to attend my evening meeting to be 
held at a later hour. 

The leader, as far as I could understand inter- 
preted the substance of my talk, for six of them 
were present at my evening meeting. After my 
remarks, another hymn was sung, and the meeting 
was open for voluntary testimony and prayer. Not 
a moment was waisted by silence or one waiting 
for another. Five or six took voluntary part. 
The whole service was characterized with a devo- 
tional and reverential spirit that left a very deep 
and abiding impression on my mind. It was not 
emotional, but apparently thoughtful and rational. 
235 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

The Japanese are philosophical, rather than emo- 
tional in their make-up, and if ever they are to be 
converted, it will not be in what we commonly call 
revival meetings. They are not influenced by senti- 
ment or emotional rhetoric. The appeal must 
reach them through the head, rather than the heart. 

Before the meeting closed, there was a little in- 
cident happened, which illustrates their refined 
courtesy, and which is worthy of notice. The 
leader feared that I might be late for my service 
which had been announced, and crediting me for 
the courtesy that would prevent my leaving before 
the closing, he left his seat at the end of the table 
and came to me in the rear, saying that he would be 
glad to have me remain, but if in doing so I would 
be detained too long, he would excuse my leaving 
any time I wished. I appreciated exceedingly this 
act of gentlemanly etiquette and thanked him for 
his thoughtful consideration. 

At the conclusion of the meeting as they passed 
out, each one gave me a cordial handshake. The 
leader being the last, I took the opportunity to ask 
a few questions which he kindly answered. I was 
not a little surprised to learn that eighteen of the 
number were professed Christians and members of 
the Presbyterian church. I learned also that about 
half of them were converted in the Presbyterian 
Mission in Tokio, Japan, and the rest in the Pres- 
byterian Japanese Mission in Seattle, Wash., sus- 
236 



LEAVES FROM MY DIARY AND NOTE BOOK 

tained by the First Presbyterian church, of which 
Rev. M. A. Matthews, D. D., is pastor. They 
had all been associated with this mission, and when 
they went out as employees on the railroad, they 
were counselled and exhorted to help each other 
and to hold a prayer-meeting every Sabbath. The 
leader informed me that they had been out two 
years and during that time never once omitted this 
Sabbath evening prayer-meeting. 

My reflections on leaving this prayer-meeting sug- 
gested the question, where in America can there be 
found a band of common labourers associated to- 
gether by such ties of practical fellowship and loy- 
alty to God, that will compare with the faithfulness 
of these Christian foreigners as illustrated in the 
above incident. 

It reminded me also of the Centurion whose 
daughter Christ healed. The Centurion's request 
and prayer to Christ for the healing of his daugh- 
ter manifested such implicit faith, that " when 
Jesus heard these things he marvelled at him, and 
turned and said to the multitude that followed, * I 
say unto you I have not found so great faith, no, 
not in Israel.' " So I felt as I witnessed the faith 
of these Japanese, that I had not found so great 
faith in Christian America. 

There is a sequel to this story I regret to relate, 
but shall do so for the rebuke its shame may of- 
fer. The next morning after this prayer-meeting 
^37 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

incident, while waiting at the depot for the train, 
I saw a group of these same Japs working on a 
switch leading from the main track. Wishing to 
observe them at work as well as in their devotions, 
I went to them and with a salute bade them good 
morning. They were working under an American 
boss. While watching them, one of their number 
made a mistroke with his hammer which seemed 
to anger the boss beyond reason. He immediately 
let out a stream of oaths so terribly blasphemous 
as to make even a hardened sinner shudder. I 
said to myself, What will this Christian Jap think 
of Christian America? What would be his 
thoughts of the people who brought him the Gos- 
pel of Jesus Christ, and the people of whom he 
might have expected better things. 

May God speed all foreign missionary endeavour, 
and may it widen and deepen until all nations shall 
know our Christ and the story of His redemption, 
but let us also be reminded that the Christianizing 
of America, is doing the most for the Christian- 
izing the world, for as goes the Anglo Saxon race, 
so will be the final destiny of the kingdoms of this 
world. 



238 



APPENDIX 



TABLE NO. i 

This table shows how much more can be raised 
to the acre, though to the Easterner, the soil looks 
barren and unproductive. 

Comparative yields for 1909, Compiled from the 
Government Crop Reporter Published by the Sec- 
retary of Agriculture, December, 1909. 

Bu.per Bu. per Bu. per Bu. per Bu. per Bu. per 
State Acre Acre Acre Acre Acre Acre 

Wheat Oats Barley Rye Flax Potatoes 



Montana . . . 


30.6 


51.3 


38.0 


29.0 


12.0 


180 


Illinois 


17-4 


36.6 


28.0 


17.8 


■ 


91 


Iowa 


18.1 


27.0 


22.0 


17.8 


9-8 


89 


Missouri . . . 


14.7 


27.0 


25.0 


15.0 


8.1 


85 


Kansas 


13.O 


28.2 


18.0 


14.0 


7.0 


79 


Nebraska . . . 


16.7 


25.0 


22.0 


16.5 


8.5 


78 


Minnesota . . 


16.8 


33.o 


23.6 


19.0 


10.0 


155 


Wisconsin . . 


19.7 


35-0 


28.0 


16.3 


14.0 


102 


Michigan . . . 


18.8 


30.5 


247 


15-5 





105 


Indiana 


• 15-3 


30.5 


23.5 


16.5 


■ 


95 


Ohio 


15-9 


32.5 


25.9 


17.2 





93 


North Dakota 


13.7 


32.0 


21.0 


18.3 


9-3 


no 


South Dakota 


14.1 


30.0 


19.5 


17.5 


9-4 


80 


United 















States 15.8 30.3 24.3 16.1 9.4 106 

239 



SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 
TABLE NO. 2 



Official Reports Showing the Products of Montana. 
Classified for 1909. 

FARM, FIELD AND ORCHARD 

Hay $15,000,000 

Wheat 9,337,000 

Potatoes and other vegetables 8,400,000 

Oats 7,840,000 

Fruits and Orchard products 7,500,000 

Barley 1,600,000 

Sugar Beets 1,500,000 

Rye 1 1,180,000 

Flax 150,000 

Total $52,507,000 

LIVE STOCK AND WOOL 

Cattle $10,000,000 

Wool 8,000,000 

Sheep 8,000,000 

Lambs 4,000,000 

Horses 1,250,000 

Hogs 350,000 

Total $31,600,000 

MINERAL PRODUCTION 

Copper $43,000,000 

Silver 8,000,000 

Gold 4,000,000 

Lead 2,250,000 

Coal 7,500,000 

Stone , • 11,500,000 

Total $66,250,000 

FOREST PRODUCTS 

Lumber, ties, etc $ 6,000,000 

240 



APPENDIX 

RECAPITULATION 

Farm and Orchard $ 52,507,000 

Livestock and wool 23,600,000 

Home consumption 36,000,000 

Mineral 66,250,000 

Forest products 6,000,000 

Grand total $184,357,000 

TABLE NO. 3 



Showing percentage of growth in Montana for ten 



years. 

1900 1910 

All Farms $ 13,370 $ 25,406 

Total Acreage 8,344,000 13,499,000 

Improved Acreage 1,726,000 3,631,000 

Average acre per farm. 624 520 

Value of land and 

buildings 55,026,000 

Value of land 45,686,000 

Value of buildings 9,340,000 

Value of implements and 

machinery 3,672,000 10,522,000 

Average value per acre 

of land buildings 6.59 18.56 

Average value per acre. 5.48 16.73 



Per cent 
Increase 

94 

62 



250,485,000 355 

225,819,000 394 

24,666,000 164 



187 



205 



TABLE NO. 



Comparison of Temperature with other localities 
covering a period of ten years. 

Average temperature: Miles City 44.3; La 
Crosse 45.9; Houghton 40.2; Pierre 45.6; Dubuque 
241 



NOV 26 1913 

SPIRITUAL CONQUEST ALONG THE ROCKIES 

47.9; Average wind velocity for Miles City six 
miles per hour. 

Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June 

Miles City 14.5 16.8 28.6 44.7 56.7 66.0 

La Crosse 15.2 184 30.9 47.3 59.5 69.2 

Houghton 14.5 16.0 23.8 36.9 49.7 59.4 

Pierre 13.9 16.9 29.5 46.5 59.3 68.9 

Dubuque 18.3 21.6 33.2 49.9 60.8 69.6 

July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. 

Miles City 72.9 71.5 61.2 46.5 30.9 21.0 

La Crosse 72.6 70.0 61.7 49.9 33.8 22.8 

Houghton 65.3 63.3 56.1 45. 1 31.5 20.9 

Dubuque 74-7 72.0 63.6 52.0 36.0 24.5 



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